*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:06, 27 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 03:57, 23 March 2024 (UTC)
Martínez trained at
Independiente's youth ranks before moving to Premier League club
Arsenal in 2010. At Arsenal, he initially served as understudy, being
loaned to various clubs, before breaking into the starting line-up in 2019, featuring in the Premier League and helping the club win a
FA Cup and
FA Community Shield. In September 2020, Martínez moved to fellow Premier League club Aston Villa in a transfer worth £20 million. In his first season at the club, he kept a club-record fifteen
clean sheets in the Premier League.
Martínez represented Argentina in junior international matches from 2009 to 2011, playing on
under-17 and
under-20 levels. He earned his first senior
cap for the Argentina national team in 2021, helping his nation win the
2021 Copa América, receiving the
Golden Glove award and keeping a clean sheet in the
final. Martínez went on to win the
2022 FIFA World Cup, where he also won the best goalkeeper of the tournament, the
Golden Glove, for his performances. For these achievements, he was also named
The Best FIFA Goalkeeper in 2022 and received the
Yashin Trophy in 2023.
Club career
Independiente
Born in
Mar del Plata, Martínez started his career playing for
Independiente's youth team. In 2009, shortly after his 17th birthday, he was invited to trial at Arsenal, and was initially offered a youth contract.[4]
Arsenal
2010–2019: Loan moves and fringe appearances
After impressing in a trial and being approved for a work permit, Martinez was formally registered as an Arsenal player in July 2010.[5]
After injuries to
Ryan Clarke and
Wayne Brown, and the termination of
Connor Ripley's
loan, Martínez went on emergency loan to
Oxford United, making his debut in the
Football League in their final game of the season against
Port Vale in
League Two on 5 May 2012;[6][7] Port Vale won 3–0.[8][9] Later that year, Martinez was named on the Arsenal substitute bench for their fixtures away at
Stoke City on 26 August and against
Liverpool on 2 September, as cover for the injured
Wojciech Szczęsny and
Łukasz Fabiański, respectively. On 26 September, he made his Arsenal debut in a 6–1 home win against
Coventry City in the third-round of the
League Cup.[10] He made his second Arsenal appearance in the following round in a
7–5 win away to
Reading.[11] Martínez subsequently transferred to
Championship club
Sheffield Wednesday on an emergency 28-day loan on 15 October 2013.[12] He made his debut for Wednesday on 23 November, against Yorkshire rivals
Huddersfield Town. Martínez's loan was eventually extended until the end of the season.[13]
After returning to Arsenal, Martínez was an unused substitute as Arsenal won the
2014 FA Community Shield on 10 August, with a 3–0 win over
Manchester City at
Wembley Stadium.[14] He made his debut in the
Champions League soon after, helping Arsenal defeat
Anderlecht 2–1 in the group stage.[15] He then made his Premier League debut as a second half substitute, replacing the injured Szczęsny against
Manchester United at the
Emirates Stadium on 22 November.[16] With injuries to backup goalkeeper
David Ospina, Martínez played his second Champions League game on 26 November, keeping a
clean sheet in a 2–0 victory over
Borussia Dortmund.[17] His "faultless" performance in the match led to him being named in the UEFA Team of the Week.[18] He made his first Premier League start on 29 November against
West Bromwich Albion, and also started against
Southampton four days later; he kept two clean sheets as Arsenal won both matches 1–0.[19][20]
On 20 March 2015, Martínez joined Championship club
Rotherham United on an emergency loan until the end of the season.[21] He made his debut the following day against
South Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday, conceding two added-time goals in a 3–2 home defeat.[22] On 2 August, Martínez was an unused substitute as new signing
Petr Čech played for Arsenal in the
2015 Community Shield, a 1–0 win over
rivalsChelsea.[23] On 11 August, he joined Championship club
Wolverhampton Wanderers on a season-long loan.[24] After making 15 appearances in the opening months of the campaign, he suffered a thigh injury that kept him out of contention for several months and was unable to regain his starting place afterwards.[25] He spent the 2016–17 season at Arsenal, and played five matches during the campaign, including two Premier League appearances against
Crystal Palace and
West Ham United.[26]
On 2 August 2017, he joined
La Liga club
Getafe on a season-long loan,[27] and on 23 January 2019, he was loaned to Championship club Reading until the end of the season.[28] At Reading, Martínez made his debut on 29 January against
Bolton Wanderers, and won the
man of the match award against
Aston Villa a few days later.[citation needed]
2019–2020: Breakthrough and departure
With
Bernd Leno being taken off injured during the first half of Arsenal's defeat to
Brighton & Hove Albion on 20 June 2020, Martínez came off the bench to make his first Premier League appearance since the 2016–17 season.[29] This led to Martínez seeing out the season as first choice goalkeeper at the club and was highly commended for a string of stellar performances,[30][31] with former Arsenal striker
Ian Wright describing him as "commanding" and as having played "brilliantly" during his extended spell in the team.[32] On 1 August, Martínez was selected to start in the
FA Cup Final against Chelsea, he went on to make some crucial saves to help Arsenal win their 14th FA Cup; after lifting the trophy he was visibly emotional and reduced to tears.[33]
Martínez started in the
2020 Community Shield against Liverpool on 29 August, which Arsenal won on penalties.[34] Following the match, there was much speculation that Martínez would leave the club with Bernd Leno returning and the player himself stated that he either wanted to stay at the club and be first-choice keeper or leave on a permanent basis.[35] With reported interest from a number of Premier League and foreign clubs, including Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion, Martínez was left out of the squad to face
Fulham on the opening day of the
league season.[36]
Aston Villa
On 16 September 2020, Martínez transferred to fellow Premier League club
Aston Villa in a deal worth up to £20 million.[37][38] He signed a four-year contract.[39] On 21 September, Martínez made his debut for Villa, saving a penalty from
John Lundstram in a 1–0 home win against
Sheffield United.[40][41] In his first season at Aston Villa, Martínez equalled
Brad Friedel's club record for clean sheets in a Premier League season, with 15.[42] He was also named Aston Villa Supporters' Player of the Season.[43]
On 21 January 2022, Martínez signed a three-year contract extension which will see him contracted to Villa until the end of the 2026–27 season.[44] On 27 July, ahead of the new season, Martínez was named one of the two Aston Villa
vice-captains, alongside
Diego Carlos.[45][46] On 1 April 2023, Martínez made his 100th Premier League appearance for Aston Villa in a 2–0 away victory over Chelsea. That clean sheet was Martínez's 34th, which broke the club record of the most clean sheets in a goalkeeper's first 100 games – which was previously set at 33, by both
Mark Bosnich and Brad Friedel.[47] On 18 April 2024, he saved two penalties in a 4–3 victory over
Lille following a 3–3 draw on aggregate, which qualified his club to the
Conference League semi-finals.[48]
International career
Martínez was called up to the
Argentina senior squad to replace
Oscar Ustari to face
Nigeria in June 2011.[49] He received his second senior call up against
Germany and
Ecuador on 9 and 13 October 2019;[50] he was an unused substitute for both friendly matches.[51]
Martínez made his international debut on 3 June 2021, in a 1–1 draw with
Chile in a
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification match.[52] He subsequently made his competitive debut in a major tournament on 14 June, once again in a 1–1 draw against the same opponent in his team's opening match of the
2021 Copa América at the
Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos in Brazil.[53] In the 57th minute, he saved a penalty from
Arturo Vidal, but he failed to prevent
Eduardo Vargas from scoring on the rebound.[54] On 6 July, Martínez saved three spot kicks in a 3–2 penalty shootout victory for Argentina over
Colombia in the semi-final of the tournament.[55] He went on to finish the tournament with a clean sheet in the 1–0 victory over
Brazil in the
final.[56] Martínez was also awarded the 2021 Copa América's Golden Glove award as the best keeper of the tournament for his performances.[57]
Martínez garnered notoriety for his performances in
penalty shoot-outs and subsequently gained a reputation for saving
penalty kicks.[66] In Martínez's three penalty shoot-outs for Argentina, opponents have scored only seven times from 14 attempts, a 50 percent conversion rate.[67] By the end of 2022, Martínez saved seven of the 35 penalties he has faced during matches throughout his career, as well as another three missed – resulting in a 71 percent success rate for opponents. Combining the 59 penalties faced by Martínez in regulation and competitive shoot-outs during that time span, Martínez saved 13 and seen five missed outright – a 69.5 percent conversion rate.[68]
However, Martínez's role went beyond simply saving the penalties, but also using psychological tactics and measures of
gamesmanship to distract and intimidate the opposing penalty takers.[69] Former goalkeeper
Matt Pyzdrowski, writing for The Athletic, would elaborate Martínez's style: "in penalty-kick situations, Martínez has one of the most aggressive and disruptive approaches that you will ever see. His ultimate aim is to put as much pressure on the taker as possible and create a moment of hesitation or doubt during their run-up. And as we've seen time and again in recent years, it works."[66]
Martínez's approach to penalties has drawn criticism for lacking
sportsmanship.[70] French goalkeeper
Hugo Lloris, who participated in the same penalty shoot-out with Martínez and Argentina in the
2022 FIFA World Cupfinal, but on the losing end, would later state "there are some things I can't do. Making a fool of myself in goal, rattling my opponents, crossing that line... I'm too rational and honest a man to go that way."[71] The
International Football Association Board was expected to eventually change its rules to discourage keepers like Martínez from employing similar tactics in the future. When asked about the potential rule changes, Martínez responded "I already saved the penalties that I had to save."[72]
During the
Premier League match between
Aston Villa and
Manchester United at
Old Trafford, United were awarded a penalty in stoppage time, with
Bruno Fernandes being the player to take it. As preparations for the penalty began, Martínez openly questioned Fernandes why his United teammate
Cristiano Ronaldo was not taking it. Fernandes missed the penalty by kicking it over the crossbar, securing the 1–0 result and ensuring a win for Aston Villa at Old Trafford.[69]
Martínez employed a number of gamesmanship tactics during the 2022 FIFA World Cup
quarter-final against the
Netherlands. He pretended to hand the ball to
Steven Berghuis before dropping it to force Berghuis to pick it up and set the ball himself, kicked the ball to the side while staring down
Teun Koopmeiners prior to his turn, and also kicked the ball into the centre circle as
Luuk de Jong drew closer to the 18-yard box. Two Netherlands players—Berghuis and
Virgil van Dijk—had their penalties saved by Martínez, resulting in Argentina advancing to the semi-final.[72]
In the 2022 FIFA World Cup final against
France, Martínez again used the same tactics. Before both
Kylian Mbappé and
Kingsley Coman placed the ball for their kicks, Martínez argued with the referee to check if each one was definitely on the spot in order, to disrupt their preparations. Mbappé scored, though Coman had his penalty saved by Martínez. Prior to
Aurélien Tchouaméni's kick, Martínez grabbed the ball and then tossed it to the side, forcing Tchouaméni to retrieve it and adding more time and pressure to take his penalty, which he missed. Martínez then shouted "I've watched you" and gesticulated to
Randal Kolo Muani several times as the latter prepared for his shot. The referee issued a
yellow card to Martínez, and Kolo Muani converted his penalty.[74][73]
Personal life
Martínez was given the names "Damián Emiliano" on his birth certificate, which caused confusion when he signed for Arsenal and everyone at the club was calling him Damián. "My name was actually going to be Emiliano Damian on my Argentinian ID," Martínez later explained. But when my mum went to do it in the post office, I don't know where she done it, she was waiting hours and hours in the queue and when they done it they put Damian Emiliano first. To do it again she would have to wait two, three hours so she went 'it's ok, just do it like that, we're going to call him Emi anyway'. It was a bit confusing but now everyone calls me Emi. Damian used to be my grandad's middle name. My mum [originally] wanted just two names - Emiliano Martinez - but because my grandad passed away before I was born she wanted to put Damian in between the two names to have my grandad's name, nothing else."[75]
He is nicknamed "Dibu" (abbreviation of Dibujo, Spanish for Drawing), after an animated character in the Argentine
telenovelaMi familia es un dibujo. Martinez was given the nickname as a young player by former goalkeeper and goalkeeper coach
Miguel Ángel Santoro at Independiente, at a time when the series was highly popular.[76][77]
Martínez has been married to Amanda "Mandinha" (née Gama) since 2017. The couple have a son, Santi, and a daughter, Ava.[78][79]
On 22 December 2022, after winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup with the national team, Martínez was given a welcome reception at Las Toscas resort, in his native city of Mar del Plata. According to the local press, there was an attendance of more than 150,000 people, both locals and tourists.[80]
Career statistics
Club
As of match played 27 April 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
^"Emiliano Martínez cedido al Getafe" [Emiliano Martínez loaned to Getafe] (in Spanish). Getafe CF. 2 August 2017.
Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2017.