Argentina secured their place in the semifinals of the Copa America 2024 with a win over Ecuador. They won the hard way as a 1-1 draw took the match directly to a penalty shootout, which the World Champions managed to ace with an enthralling 4-2 win. Yet, the talking point of the match remains Lionel Messi missing the opening kick from the spot. For ardent fans, that moment made it seem like Argentina’s journey was on the brink, hero the night Emiliano Martinez remained optimistic as he knew his team wasn’t ‘going home yet.’

Reacting to his captain’s miss during the post-match interview, the Aston Villa man said, “After Messi missed the first penalty kick, I told the fans that we are not going home yet. I was not ready to return home, this group deserves to continue.”

Hearts stomped after the Inter Miami star missed the opening kickoff. However, Martinez cooled off the criticism surrounding Messi’s penalty miss. The goalie assured that Messi is a human after all and such mistakes can happen to even the greatest. “Leo Messi will always be the best in the world. Anyone can miss a penalty,” he added.

Notably, La Pulga decided to go first during the shootout as extra time had been removed by Copa America until the knockout stages. Interestingly, the 37-year-old decided to take a different approach and tried the infamous panenka. Unfortunately, it failed as it hit the woodwork.

Luckily, Martinez came to the rescue as he denied Ecuador’s first two strikes. While Messi missed the mark, Julian Alvarez, Alexis Mac Allister, Gonzalo Montiel, and Nicola Otamendi made no mistake. Rest, the biggest favor was done by Martinez, whose hard work in training certainly paid off.

Emiliano Martinez trained over ‘500 times’ to steal the spotlight from Lionel Messi

Be it luck or skill, Emiliano Martinez has always impressed when it comes to saving penalties. Revealing his secret to making brilliant saves, the 31-year-old said, “I train a lot to be able to do this. I train like 500 times on shootouts in training. We have to give our best because our fans deserve it.” Certainly, fans would be chanting his name for denying Ecuador’s strike. Messi, especially, would be thankful to the star goalie for saving the day for their beloved nation.

Notably, Argentina was ahead within 25 minutes. Messi’s corner saw Mac Allister deflect the ball for Lisandro Martinez, who headed the ball neatly into the goal. In a dramatic turn of events, the hour mark saw Ecuador get a penalty. Though Martinez dived the wrong way, Enner Valencia did the job for him by mistakingly striking the ball directly at the bottom-left post. However, Ecuador wasn’t ready to give up as Kevin Rodriguez found the equalizer during the injury time.

Yet, all that effort went in vain as Argentina eventually made their way to the semifinals by acing the penalty shootouts. Once again, a shoutout to Emiliano Martinez for his stunning reflexes.