Emiliano Dibu Martínez
is a born winner. There are no longer any doubts. He is during the 90 minutes - he has eight clean sheets in the current
Premier League
campaign -. In the extensions -ask
Randal Kolo Muani
, in case you need references -. And, obviously, in penalties. For a new example, it is worth remembering what he did this Thursday with
Aston Villa
in the visit to the hostile
Lille
, whose fans declared him persona non grata and booed him throughout the night. The man from Mar del Plata, enlarged by the destratus, was another key from the twelve steps. After 3-3 on aggregate, including extra time as a visitor, he saved two penalties as the Birmingham team advanced to the semifinals of the
Conference League
.
There is no choice but to conclude that
Dibu
is an expert in penalties.
He won the last five rounds in which he starred, with eight shots saved and two rivals who deflected their executions
. The streak began in the definition of the 2020
Community Shield
, when he celebrated with
Arsenal
against
Liverpool
. Then followed the
Copa América
semifinal
in 2021 -
Davinson Sánchez
,
Yerry Mina
and
Edwin Cardona
were their victims. He would once again be fundamental for the
Argentine National Team
in the
2022 World Cup in Qatar
: first against
the Netherlands - Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis suffered - and then in the final against France - he stopped
Kingsley Coman's
shot
and provoked, with his little games mental, that
Aurélien Tchouaméni
missed his shot. History repeated itself on Thursday when he won the duel against
Nabil Bentaleb
and
Benjamin André
and left a trail of angry and indignant people in northern Gaul.
What is Dibu Martínez's secret?
In addition to his reflexes and the power of his legs and arms, the man from Mar del Plata continues to do his thing with mental games beyond the limits imposed by the
International Board
to avoid these excesses. However, in Lille, before he was given the second yellow card of the night - which did not result in an expulsion but which will leave him on the sidelines of the first leg of the semi-finals against Olympiakos - the Argentine played to the limit. And this is reflected in an analysis published on the social network
In the first penalty, after a striking challenge inside the large area, he takes the ball and also takes full control of the situation to
go first
and frustrate Bentaleb, who also runs but arrives late and must wait for Dibu to give him the ball.
At that moment the Slovak referee
Ivan Kruzliak
begins to talk to the goalkeeper and warns him for his behavior, meanwhile the definition cools down and the kicker waits for the game to resume. He finally executes and Martínez is left with the duel. The disappointment was total for the Lille player, who angrily
kicked the ball into the stands
.
The response time of the executor is also key. After the actions of the world champion goalkeeper, Bentaleb kicks as soon as the whistle blows. The same thing happens in the case of André with the last shot. Not taking the time to
calm down and think about what to do
benefits the game of
Draw
.
In the case of Aston Villa, in the last penalty
Douglas Luiz
takes approximately eight seconds to execute after the referee's order. He would convert his shot, the Lille player and the
Dibu,
through a little dance,
He was once again a hero in the penalties.
Background of the drawing
mental games
It is not the first time that
Draw
resorts to mental games to "annoy" rivals. The first time the world saw him do his thing was with
Colombia
in 2021, where since there was no audience, he heard every word he said to the
Cafeteros.
"
Look, I eat you brother
" or "
I'm sorry, but I eat you
" were the phrases that echoed in Brasilia. A little more than a year later, but in the World Cup he resorted to the same thing with the Netherlands, throwing the ball far away or approaching them to talk to them and make
Van Dijk
and
Berghuis'
hair stand on end .
In the final with
France
after an electrifying 3-3 and a late save against
Kolo Muani
in the 120th minute, he was once again key for Argentina to earn its third star. Once he had indicated where he was going to kick, the Aston Villa goalkeeper went to his place totally focused on his goal.
The first thing he did in that round was shake hands with the rival goalkeeper and then with
Kylian Mbappé
, he goes to the line and tells the referee to check the position of the ball. France's 10 would convert. In the second penalty he would do the same with
Coman,
who saved the penalty and celebrated it in his face as a symbol of domination and confidence.
Tchouaméni
's turn would come
. Seeing the
Real Madrid
player arrive ,
Dibu
takes the ball and quickly asks the Argentine fans to start cheering. Instead of giving the ball to the kicker, he threw it away for him to go get it and thus take his concentration off.
For the fourth penalty it would be Kolo Muani's turn, at first the
Argentina number 1
would talk to the
staff
as if indicating a movement to his left and then
he would begin to tell the Frenchman that he had seen him
and then he would earn the yellow card. On this occasion the rival would score, then
Montiel
would do the same and Argentina declared champion.
Draw Martínez misses the first leg against Olympiakos
After qualifying for the semifinals of the Conference League, Aston Villa will face
Bournemouth
this Sunday , for matchday 34 of the Premier League. Unai Emery's team is fourth in the table and seeks to reach the next
Champions League
. For now he achieves it, with three points ahead of Tottenham, who will face Manchester City on Tuesday.
The bad news for Dibu Martínez will be that he will miss the idea of the semi-final against Olympiakos. The thing is that that yellow card that did not cost him the expulsion ended up costing the man from Mar del Plata. The reason? The tournament regulations explain that a player must serve a suspension date if he receives "three warnings that did not result in a red card." As he had already been reprimanded in the first leg, the two yellow cards will end up leaving him out of the next cup match.
The first semifinal will be played on Thursday, May 2 in Birmingham and Emery will have no choice but to put the Swede Robin Olsen on the field, whose performance was irregular every time Martínez was absent. The return will take place a week later, on the 9th, in Piraeus, Greece, with the Argentine in goal.