Mumbai:
Chasing a long lob forward, Randal Kolo Muani suddenly found himself in plenty of space with only the goalkeeper in front of him. The match had entered the 123rd minute with the score at 3-3. The French forward was in a good position just inside the box with no defender nearby.
He struck the ball sweetly. Hard, low and accurate. His teammates on the bench had already come onto the field with arms raised in celebration. This was France’s biggest chance.
But it was Emiliano Martinez’s moment.
The Argentina goalkeeper stretched out his left leg to make a stunning reflex save. A save that kept his team in the match. A save that eventually allowed Argentina to win the World Cup on penalties.
“If he didn’t make that save, (Lionel) Messi would not be a world champion,” said Germany goalkeeping great Oliver Kahn.
After the heroics of Qatar 2022, Martinez and Argentina are in the World Cup final once again. This time they take on a disciplined Spain for the title.
The storylines have been drawn, highlighted by the match-up between the master Messi and the apprentice Lamine Yamal. But there’s also the important clash between the two goalkeepers – Martinez and Spain’s Unai Simon.
“Unai Simon has shown his ability in this tournament. He’s a very calm guy, a good footballer, a good sweeper-keeper. He’s reliable and that’s the most important factor for a goalkeeper. The team must have the impression that they can rely on him, and that relaxes the whole team,” said Kahn, an expert panelist for Zee5, to select media.
“Martinez is a little bit different. He’s a more aggressive goalkeeper with great posture, great presence on the field and enormous reflexes. He has this conviction that, ‘hey, I’m one of the best guys in the world because I saved the World Cup for my team in 2022’.”
The form from Qatar 2022 has not entirely travelled with him to the United States in 2026. Over the course of the seven matches Martinez has played at this edition, he has made nine saves but conceded seven with only two clean sheets.
Alarmingly, six of the seven goals Argentina has conceded have come in the knockout stage of the competition. This includes the two each they conceded in the scares against Cabo Verde and Egypt in the first two rounds of the knockout stage.
Meanwhile, Simon set a new World Cup record during the tournament by going 650 minutes without conceding a goal.
Spain has been one of the best defensive sides of the tournament, conceding only the solitary goal against Belgium, as Simon has picked up six clean sheets in the seven matches he has played.
Granted, a sturdy backline has done much of the heavy lifting, but Simon has been that firm figure between the sticks when the defence does get breached.
As France chased the game in the semi-final, with Kylian Mbappe sent through on goal, Simon charged off his line and made a telling tackle to clear the danger. That was, however, against a talented French team that had a bad day at the office. Against Argentina, Spain and Simon will have to be at their best.
“The team plays best when it’s under pressure. And when we’re under pressure and the opposition hesitates just a little, that’s when we smell blood and go all the way,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni told FIFA after the 2-1 win over England in the semi-final. “You feel as though there’s a vacuum cleaner in the goal pulling you towards it.”
Both Martinez and Simon, who was the Spain No.1 when they won Euro 2024 have shown their calibre in clutch situations. And neither can afford any mistakes.
“That’s the life of a goalkeeper. I know it very well, believe me,” Kahn added, referring to the 2002 World Cup final in which his error led to Brazil’s first goal in a 2-0 win. “I played six and a half games perfectly without any mistakes. And then there was only one situation, one small mistake, and it was over. It took a long time (to get over it).”
Goals win matches but, just as it proved in 2022, the goalkeeper won the championship. Who will decide the outcome on Sunday?
