Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez didn't hold back after his team's World Cup final collapse to Spain, accusing his teammates of resorting to defensive, timid football. The Aston Villa shot-stopper said playing backwards was the mark of cowards, a clear dig at how his side abandoned the aggressive approach that had carried them to a second straight final.
Argentina looked nothing like the free-flowing, attacking unit that had reached the showpiece under Lionel Scaloni. Spain dominated proceedings, with Argentina failing to register a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes.
At halftime, Martinez took matters into his own hands, delivering a passionate rallying cry to his teammates in the dressing room. "Come on, with heart, boys, hey," he said, urging them to abandon their cautious approach.
He continued, pushing them to play with courage and ambition. "Playing with heart means pushing forward, not retreating; it means advancing.
Forward, forward, forward, forward," Martinez told them.
The goalkeeper made his frustration crystal clear with his next words. "Cowards play backwards, let's move forward.
Three passes and we find Leo, let me see us build it from the back too," he insisted, referencing captain Lionel Messi.
Messi himself attempted to inspire the squad during the interval, echoing his goalkeeper's message about character. "Come on, boys, character, everyone, character.
We've always had it, aren't we going to show it now?" the Argentine legend said.
He added, "Come on, hey. Character to play, let's play our football, let's play, come on."
The desperate pleas went unheeded. Argentina's second-half performance mirrored their first-half display, and Spain's dominance continued throughout.
The South Americans' campaign ended in disappointment as they failed to reclaim the trophy.
Messi and Martinez's halftime speeches, though impassioned, couldn't spark the turnaround Argentina needed to mount a comeback against a rampant Spanish side.
