With the world's third-largest Instagram following, Lionel Messi used his platform to venerate goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez's heroic penalty shootout performance
Lionel Messi used his first public message since narrowly escaping Ecuador in the 2024 Copa America quarter-finals to give thanks for Emiliano Martinez's penalty kick heroics on Friday.
The diminutive attacker looked set for another bout of summertime spot-kick heartbeat after placing an attempted Panenka off the crossbar, but a series of tremendous saves from the Aston Villa goalkeeper advanced Argentina into the next round.
"One more step... We suffered a lot against a tough opponent," Messi wrote on Instagram Friday. "We passed to the semis thanks to everyone's work and on top of that we have the best goalkeeper in the world. Go Argentina!"
Argentina looked set for a much more comfortable passing into the last four, carrying a 1-0 lead into stoppage time, but a glancing header from Ecuador's Kevin Martinez found the bottom left corner and gave his nation a deserved equaliser — La Tri outshot the defending world champions 9-8 and controlled 49.3 per cent of possession. Copa America rules dictate that tournament matches advance to penalties immediately after the 90 minutes of regulation, and Martinez quickly atoned for the goal by stopping Ecuador's first penalty from Angel Mena.
Martinez helped La Albiceleste take a commanding lead the next round, using his outstretched left palm to deny Alan Minda before gesturing a celebratory, gyrating dance toward the Argentina fans. Both teams would convert their next five penalty kicks, capped off by Nicolas Otamendi rolling his attempt into the bottom corner and securing a trip to the semifinals.
"Dibu is always there, in these moments he becomes big. In the penalties we had a lot of faith, even before the match he joked that we should be calm if there were penalties," Messi told reporters after the game. "He always has it in his mind."
It's the second time in as many international tournaments that Martinez has dominated headlines for his sensational shootout performances, lifting Argentina past France in 2022 during the World Cup final. Martinez made penalties possible with a remarkable last-gasp breakaway save on French striker Randal Kolo Muani and later forced two spot-kick mishaps for Les Blues with his impressive reflexes and confident, disruptive mind games.
"When it goes to penalties, it’s a different game,” Martinez told GOAL. “It’s me against the striker, and me against the [other] goalie. Some people will never understand that, because they want the goalie to stand on the line and dive, and that’s it. But the players can jump, they can slow down, they can celebrate in your face, they can slide, they can dance. And we just have to pick the ball out of the net and throw it back to them? I don’t get it."