Emiliano Martinez spoke about Argentina’s 1-0 win vs. Uruguay, the team and the Copa America.
Martinez has now started the last four games for the Argentina national team and not only got his first win but his first clean sheet. He was interviewed by TyC Sports after the match, here is what he had to say:
“As a group, we were missing the win. We came with a bit of a bitter taste in our mouths because we played well and we couldn’t win.
“They would score against us when we could have been a little better defensively. Today, we defended first and attacked second.”
In regards to the Copa America:
“We are here to win it, it’s what we all dream of, we have the best in the world and a good coach who gives us a plan every match and we’re going to win.
“We have a great squad, anyone who comes in wants to do well, the coach gives a lot of confidence to the players and that is good for the group.”
Regarding favorites Brazil and the other teams in the tournament:
“We are not afraid of anyone, we respect everyone, we are going match by match. I believe from the match vs. Chile in Santiago to now, we are more solid and today we had the defensive solidity.”
for the first time after 2014 we are more confidence with the GK. Emi looks confidence and his face brighten up the team; not gloomy anymore. Next important thing for Scaloni and Samuel is to find out the right partner for Romero at the back. Acuna is needed for his bull spirit. Strong wall ! Aimar have to find the rythm in the mid-field…
Solid GK, defense, with counter-attacking football has been the strategy of International championship-winning teams in the last several years – Portugal in Euros, France in WC, Brazil in the last Copa (even though all of these teams can play head up with their talented mid-field).
It is the style that got us 1st place in 2014 WCQ (with record goal-scoring) & to the 2014 World Cup final.
As much as I’d love to see real possession football with tango/tiki-taka and tons of goal-scoring (it brings joy to my eyes), perhaps this is the style we should play moving forward.
We do need to bring more players running towards the box though. I saw a play near the 26th minute where Messi was running by himself towards the box and finally found a player to pass it to. The play stalled and Uruguay was able to recover on defense. I was yelling at my tv screaming, “where is everyone on this counter, he literally has only one guy in front of him.”
I criticize Scaloni because I still do want an experienced manager with style, but we are 15 matches unbeaten. Give me a trophy and show me improvement towards perfection every match and he has my support (I would like to have confidence in this team like I did with Sabella – I knew that team was going to the final – everyone was excited when he took over and during his time: the 4-3 friendly match against Brazil – Higuain, Aguero, Messi scoring almost every game, with Gago, DiMaria assisting throughout qualifying. His flaw though is that he brought Palacios instead of Juventus-Tevez due to politics, no Pastore in creative midfield, no Lamela-hot young star, no Icardi due to politics, and bringing injured players).
I hope Scaloni learns from the mistakes of past managers.
since Martinez came off when Argentina were leading 2-0 against Colombia, this is technically his second clean sheet
Well they reach world cup final with good defending.. so I guess is counter attack we might see a little more often now
considering we dont have any requilmes or verons, playing counter attack with the explosive offense we can have is the best solution. and it solidifies are sorry ass defense since everyone comes back lol
Many thanks Emi, for such kind of bold & possitive attitude. We really need such kind of leader who can play & speak as well. After Messi, I see him as our captain!
Emi, Romero r the next two big thing of Argentina inn shaa Allah! Now we need to find out a good, in form forward & overall a solid defensive display..
This guy has really such a positive attitude. Love to see it. The other day he said something like ‘the goal size is same everywhere’ and today this.
Great teams don’t have just great players, but also great leaders and characters. I think in addition to being a significant update on our GK, he seems to have a calming and positive effect on the players.
This may be too much to ask and I may be getting carried away, but in one of the future games, if Messi is rested, I would like E.Martinez to wear the captain armband. Unlikely since he hasn’t been around this side for long, but man has a nice attitude.
That means defense is the key to success. Messi can win any match with minimum support if defense is strong. Scaloni should work on squad depth in defense. Even if Romero is injured we have be strong in defense. For next world cup defense should be the first priority
That’s so true, so true. Look at the French team, they lost a heartbreaker to Portugal, at home, in the final of Euro 2016, in a game they had 70%+ possessions. I mean they dominated Portugal from start to finish. I remember a French commentator on ESPN bitterly complaining and viciously attacking Portugal for parking the bus and ‘destroying the game’. Stfu, Portugal did what they had to do and won, find your own way. The French did and two years later won The WCup. Yeah, defense wins championships.
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