Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez receives two match suspension following ‘offensive behaviour’ while on international duty for Argentina
Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez will miss Argentina’s next two games after being banned by FIFA.
The charges from FIFA relate to two incidents during Argentina’s 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Colombia.
The former Arsenal stopper was seen recreating his infamous 2022 World Cup golden glove celebration.
Only this time he used a replica Copa America trophy holding it against his crotch in the 3-0 win against Chile at the start of September.
That was La Albiceleste’s first match since winning the tournament in the summer and Martinez clearly got carried away with the celebrations.
He then followed that up by hitting the camera with his gloves following a frustraing 2-1 defeat to Colombia in the following match.
The Argentina Football Association said it disagreed with the suspension but that Martinez was ‘responsible’ for his actions.
The suspension means the 32 year-old will miss Argentina’s qualifiers against Venezuela and Bolivia in October.
It is not the first time that Martinez made headlines for the wrong reasons.
Following Argentina’s World Cup triumph in 2022, he was awarded the Golden Glove, the competition’s best goalkeeper.
&w=707&quality=100)
In a fit of excitement, he would put the trophy in front of his crotch for the whole world to see.
He has also become synonymous with a number of tactics and efforts to get under opponent’s skin.
When Aurelien Tchouameni missed a penalty against Aston Villa in 2021, Martinez danced in front of the Manchester United fans.
And that isn’t all, during Argentina’s penalty shootout win over France he threw the ball from the goal line to outside of the box, forcing Aurelien Tchouameni to retrieve it.
And his antics may have been successful as the French midfielder planted his penalty wide of the post.
It’s the transfer saga that won’t go away but now West Ham have had the final say on that move for Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran.
West Ham have missed out on a string of top quality young strikers in recent years.
From Julian Alvarez and Viktor Gyokeres to the latest – Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran.
Despite being widely regarded to have had one of the club’s best ever windows, West Ham cannot escape the sense of regret – and criticism – over their failed pursuit of Aston Villa’s young forward.
Many Hammers fans fans feel the striker department is one key area that was not properly addressed in the summer.
West Ham and Villa saga continues after Romano claim
Premier League rivals Aston Villa are spoilt for choice up front with Duran the back-up to Ollie Watkins.
One of West Ham’s big summer signings was £23.5m veteran striker Niclas Fullkrug.
The Hammers simply had to go out and get a top forward in the summer. The German became striker signing number 53 since David Sullivan arrived in east London in 2010.
