wing to superstition, before the season started Emiliano Martínez traded his No 1 shirt for the No 23. The number – a nod to the day his six-year-old son, Santi, was born – has proved a good omen, Martínez says, given he has won four trophies with Argentina, including a second Copa América this summer, wearing it.
Another superstition has been in play since his wife, Mandinha, gave him a pair of cuddly toy animals before the World Cup; Santi’s penguin and the giraffe of their three-year-old daughter, Ava, to carry as mascots in the dressing room, alongside a photo of his children. “I keep them with me everywhere I go,” says Martínez, whose shin pads are covered in images of his family and moments from his career. “It gives me a little bit of motivation before every game. She [Mandinha] said: ‘You are going to bring the golden cup home.’ I was 40 days away from the family, and I did it.”
Martínez insists any dark arts are not preordained. “I think it’s natural,” he says. “I don’t think about it, I just do it. It’s in the moment. It’s something that can happen, the adrenaline kicks in and sometimes you just can’t control it. I don’t look for it, it just comes. Sometimes when you see me from the outside, you think: ‘He looks a show-off.’ But no, I’m just a normal guy, a family man. But when it is about winning I try everything I can to win the game.”
Does Martínez feel misunderstood? “Yeah, exactly … [people who think of me being] the show-off are probably the team who doesn’t know me. When you ask all of my teammates, those in the national team, I do everything for my team, I try to help everyone in the club. The only thing that I want is the best for my club and country. That is all that I care about.”
In other words, the 31-year‑old unapologetically wants to win at all costs, though it is hard to keep a straight face when he insists he never intends to irk supporters. Jamie Vardy, who goaded Tottenham fans on Monday by pointing to the Premier League crest on his shirt, certainly enjoys a little bit of give-and-take with those in the stands. “Everyone has their own things,” Martínez says. “I never try to wind up fans, I never do that. I just try to slow things down when the game is against us; I try to kick the ball as hard as I can
