Former Aston Villa captain Darren Bent has spoken on BirminghamLive about Emi Martinez’s World Cup celebrations vis-à-vis Kylian Mbappe, slamming Villa’s number one for going overboard in his post-match victory celebrations targetting France’s talisman.
Martinez had been key in Argentina’s World Cup success, making two game-winning saves as his country lifted the trophy for the third time. The 30-year-old goalkeeper denied Randal Kolo Muani in one of the last actions of extra time before doing likewise to Kingsley Coman in the penalty shootout.
The Argentine keeper picked up the Golden Glove award for his performances throughout the tournament but has been criticised for his unsavory celebratory antics targeting the French ace during the team’s trophy parade on Tuesday. Martinez was pictured holding what a baby doll with Kylian Mbappe’s face stuck on, which the ex-Villa striker was uncomfortable with.
“I understand it but I think he’s going overboard,” the former Villa skipper told talkSPORT. “I know they beat France but you’re talking about a guy that smashed the ball past you during that game four times.
“It’s not like you saved his penalty or did something to make him look foolish, Mbappe still scored a hat-trick in 120 minutes and a penalty in the shootout; and all three times he went the same way.
“It’s all well and good you clowning him and joking because you won the World Cup, and rightly so, but if you talk about Mbappe vs Martinez, Mbappe made him look silly.”
Presenter Andy Goldstein tried to being things into perspective by raising the point that Mbappe had started the issue by provoking a rivalry with his incendiary comments prior to the final about South American football being played at a far less competitive level than European football, which accounted for the European nations being the eventual winners of the preceding tournaments.
He had insensitively stoked the fire when he said: “Football is not as advanced as in Europe. That’s why at the last World Cups, it’s always the Europeans who win.”
In response, Bent added: “That I understand but let it go. Listen, you’ve won the World Cup, you’ve had the last laugh and now you’re making yourself look like an idiot.
“If I’m Messi, I’m saying, ‘I’m happy as you are but he’s my teammate at the end of the day. We’ve won it., we’ve had the last laugh, we are world champions, let’s wind in a bit now.’”