{"id":587621,"date":"2021-03-25T15:28:11","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T19:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=587621"},"modified":"2026-03-24T17:09:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T21:09:23","slug":"the-aston-villa-man-who-can-help-argentina-to-international-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/03\/25\/the-aston-villa-man-who-can-help-argentina-to-international-success\/","title":{"rendered":"The Aston Villa Man Who Can Help Argentina to International Success"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There have been many great stories in the Premier League this season but few can match that of Emiliano Martinez.<\/p>\n<p>Having joined Arsenal as a teenager in 2010, he would spend most of the next decade going out on loan. From Oxford United to Reading and many more in between, the stopper seemed destined to have a career as a number two in the top-flight or in the lower leagues.<\/p>\n<p>Even his prominent role in helping the Gunners win the FA Cup last season didn\u2019t convince everyone. After all, he still hadn\u2019t played consistently over a period of time to judge him properly. Therefore, the Londoners were happy to sell Martinez in September, with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2020\/09\/16\/emiliano-martinez-completes-aston-villa-move\/\" target=\"_self\">Aston Villa signing the Argentinian<\/a> for around \u00a317 million.<\/p>\n<h2>Emiliano Martinez Can Help Argentina to International Success<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">2 &#8211; Emiliano Mart\u00ednez is the third goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet in their first two Premier League appearances against a club they\u2019ve previously appeared for in the competition after Shaka Hislop vs Newcastle (1998-99) and Mark Schwarzer vs Middlesbrough (2008-09). Missed. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EPUyNFcUwu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/EPUyNFcUwu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OptaJoe\/status\/1358062207435743234?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 6, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Key Signing<\/h3>\n<p>And, to say that looks like a smart bit of business would be a massive understatement. That\u2019s because the keeper has been outstanding this season, and there\u2019s every chance he will be named in the Team of the Year.<\/p>\n<p>A quick look at the latest Premier League betting odds shows that Aston Villa are seen as a team that can now compete with anyone on their day, and they are pushing for Europe at 15\/8 to finish in the top six. Playing a key part in taking the West Midlands outfit to the Europa League would be a fantastic achievement for Martinez, but he might have his eyes set on a bigger prize in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s because Copa America is set to take place at the end of the season, with Argentina co-hosting the competition.<\/p>\n<p>Incredibly, the 28-year-old hasn\u2019t been capped by La Albiceleste, but he has made recent squads and there\u2019s no way his form will be going unnoticed. The goalkeeping position has been problematic &#8211; bordering on embarrassing &#8211; for Argentina in recent major tournaments, so they could have found an answer to a key issue.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the focus, as always, will be on Lionel Messi when it comes to the national team. And, given his age, the Barcelona great knows the clock is ticking as he chases that elusive title at international level.<\/p>\n<p>But, as we\u2019ve seen, he can\u2019t do it by himself for Argentina. There has been a real lack of balance in the team over the years, and not having a reliable, sound goalkeeper is partly to blame for that.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s worth remembering that Martinez is one of only a few differences in this Villa team from last season when they finished 17th and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/football\/53460591\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">survived on the final day<\/a>. So, playing with a keeper you can trust does bring out the best in others. Where they were defensively vulnerable, Dean Smith\u2019s centre-backs now look assured.<\/p>\n<p>Obviously, it\u2019s not all down to Martinez, but you can\u2019t underestimate the role he has played in giving belief to his teammates. Now, he needs to be given the chance to replicate that for his country.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"es\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Selecci%C3%B3nMayor?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Selecci\u00f3nMayor<\/a> Lionel <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Messi?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Messi<\/a> contin\u00faa estirando su ventaja como el m\u00e1ximo goleador hist\u00f3rico de la Albiceleste: lleg\u00f3 a 71 goles con <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Argentina?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Argentina<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/T6SCX0dWev\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/T6SCX0dWev<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Nl15nHPX2a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Nl15nHPX2a<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Selecci\u00f3n Argentina \ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddf7 (@Argentina) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Argentina\/status\/1314626690463813637?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 9, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The pressure of playing in Copa America, at home, in a competition Argentina will be expected to win from their notoriously demanding fans, is huge. However, it\u2019s a challenge that Martinez will relish, and an opportunity he deserves.<\/p>\n<p>If he can have the same impact on the national team as he has done in the Premier League, then it could be a summer to remember for Messi, Martinez and that footballing mad nation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"EwGm0r3ESgB3OzzdmaItKg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/1284622362\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'EwGm0r3ESgB3OzzdmaItKg',sig:'_PEJbqBLaJIJ2mOhWEsaXoRP4vBHjux7QwjC9CJJbLI=',w:'594px',h:'433px',items:'1284622362',caption: true ,tld:'co.uk',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There have been many great stories in the Premier League this season but few can match that of Emiliano Martinez. Having joined Arsenal as a teenager in 2010, he would spend most of the next decade going out on loan. From Oxford United to Reading and many more in between, the stopper seemed destined to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1806,"featured_media":587624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[161,3838,3],"tags":[979,3660],"class_list":["post-587621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-football","category-aston-villa","category-premier-league","tag-argentina","tag-emiliano-martinez"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1806"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587621"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":667101,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587621\/revisions\/667101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}