World Cup: Lisandro Martinez was so emotional after Argentina v Netherlands | OneFootball

Lisandro Martinez gave the most emotional post-match interview of the 2022 World Cup so far after Argentina advanced to the semi-finals with a penalty shoot-out victory over the Netherlands on Friday evening.

Lionel Scaloni’s men eventually triumphed 4-3 on spot-kicks following a bad-tempered clash at the Lusail Iconic Stadium.

Referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz struggled to maintain control of the match, dishing out no less than 17 yellow cards on the evening.

La Albiceleste had looked set for a far easier passage through to the last four as they led 2-0 with just seven minutes of normal time to play, thanks to goals from Nahuel Molina and a Lionel Messi penalty.

However, a pulsating conclusion saw former Burnley striker Wout Weghorst grab a last-gasp brace to force extra-time.

When the two sides couldn’t be split during the 30 minutes of additional play, it was down to the lottery of penalties to decide who would meet Croatia in Tuesday’s semi-final.

Argentina win hard-fought contest

Goalkeeper Emi Martinez was the hero for Argentina – saving penalties from Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis to give the South American side a crucial early advantage in the shoot-out.

For their part, Argentina were perfect from the spot, scoring all four of their penalties.

The emotionally-draining nature of the occasion was clear to see in a post-match interview given by Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez to Argentinian broadcaster DEPORTV.

The centre-back was forced to watch on as the shootout took place, having been withdrawn in favour of Angel Di Maria during extra-time – and was unable to fight back tears as he praised the efforts of his teammates.

You can check out the interview below.

Per @AlbicelesteTalk on Twitter, the 24-year-old declared that justice had been done on the night as Argentina’s World Cup campaign ‘didn’t deserve’ to end having dominated much of the game.

“It was just incredible.

“I just freed [when the final penalty was scored], because we didn’t deserve to end like that.

“We were much better than them.

“I want to hug everyone the players, the coaching staff… everyone!”

It was a thrilling end to an incredible day of action at the World Cup, which had earlier seen tournament favourites Brazil dumped out by Croatia on penalties.

Argentina are now just two matches away from ending a 36-year wait to get their hands on the World Cup trophy again.

Martinez’s reaction after their quarter-final win shows just how much winning the tournament – in Messi’s final World Cup – means to them as a group.

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