Martinez gets a hero’s welcome in home town

Argentina's World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was greeted by a crowd estimated at 100,000 in his home town, Mar de Plata.

It was Argentina's third title but Martinez is the first World Cup winner from the resort town south of Buenos Aires, where tennis player Guillermo Vilas was previously the most famous sports personality.

Martinez showed the crowd in front of the beach on Thursday his trophy as goalkeeper of the tournament and told them it was "not only for me but for all the kids, the little goalkeepers, who dream of going for the fourth star."

"This is a beautiful thing, that a goalkeeper gets this recognition, because this is almost always given to strikers," said Martinez, who left Argentina at 17 to join Arsenal in England and now plays for Aston Villa in the Premier League.

He has developed a reputation as a penalty shootout specialist after his success in the 2021 Copa America final against Brazil and then against France in Doha.

"On penalties I become strong and I know that people respect me, I know because opposing players have told me so," he said.

Martinez defended his strategy of trying to disconcert penalty takers.

"When you take the first penalty in a world final, you know the other guy is going to be very nervous," he said. "I try to play them, to push the ball away a little bit, to talk to them."

Meanwhile, French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera on Friday accused Argentine players of being "inelegant winners" and "vulgar" for mocking her country's star Kylian Mbappe after winning the World Cup final.

"As much as our French team knew how to lose with panache, so the manner in which this Argentine team acted after this victory was not worthy of the match we saw", the minister told French radio station RTL.

Oudea-Castera singled out goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who was seen in the victory parade in Buenos Aires holding a baby doll its face covered with a photo of French star Mbappe.

Immediately after the match had been heard in the Argentina changing room demanding: "A minute of silence... for Mbappe."

Mbappe scored a hat-trick as France twice fought back to take the game to a shootout and then beat Martinez with the opening kick.

"I find it pitiful," said Oudea-Castera. "It's just vulgar, inappropriate, really not up to the occasion," she said

"This Emiliano Martinez is not distinguishing himself.  It is rather pathetic".