Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has again found himself in hot water after taunting French forward Kylian Mbappe during World Cup celebrations in Buenos Aires.
Footage taken of Martinez at Argentina’s victory parade, following the nation’s 4-2 penalty shootout win over France on Monday, showed the Aston Villa player parading around the team’s open-top bus with a baby doll displaying Mbappe’s face on it.
Martinez may have been the hero for Argentina during the shootout with the score level at 3-3 after extra time, but fans on social media have been quick to point out that the 30-year-old conceded a hat-trick to Mbappe during the decider.
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“Seriously, why would Emi Martinez do this? You won the World Cup – just enjoy the adulation?” football pundit Simon Hill wrote on Twitter.
It is not known where the toy doll came from, including whether Martinez was given it from a member of the crowd or he made it himself.
Martinez was recently forced to explain his crude celebration after he was awarded the Golden Glove award as the tournament’s best goalkeeper.
Upon receiving the gong during the post-game ceremony, Martinez held it near his groin in response to boos from the French crowd.
“I did it because the French booed me,” Martinez told Argentine radio station La Red.
“Pride does not work with me.”
Not for the first time in the celebrations, Martinez also jested at Mbappe during Argentina’s post-match festivities in their dressing room.
In a clip, Martinez can be heard asking for a “minute of silence” for Mbappe after his team failed to defend their World Cup title.
Taking to social media, fans are concerned the rivalry between the pair could have an adverse effect on Martinez’s countryman Lionel Messi with he and Mbappe to resume as teammates at Paris Saint-Germain in France’s domestic league.
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