Emiliano Martinez is a mainstay between the sticks and a key figure in the team currently flying the flag at the and looking to retain the crown captured in such sensational circumstances at Qatar 2022.
However, it was on a significantly smaller stage – albeit in typically unorthodox fashion – that La Albiceleste’s larger-than-life goalkeeper gained his first-ever taste of action in earnest in .
Ahead of a mouth-watering at between Martinez’s motherland and the country where he has long plied his trade at club level, FIFA rewinds the clock all the way back to the flamboyant shot-stopper’s remarkable competitive debut, which came for none other than Oxford United, then in League Two which is the fourth rung of the English football pyramid.
It is fair to say that it was hardly front-page news worldwide when Arsenal announced on their website on Friday, 4 May 2012 that they had “agreed the emergency loan of goalkeeper Damian Martinez to League Two side Oxford United.” For the Oxonians, however, it was potentially make or break. The following day was to bring the curtain down on the division’s regular season, and they were set to visit Port Vale knowing that nothing less than three points would do in their push for a place in the promotion play-offs.
With both of their regular keepers sidelined and Connor Ripley – another loan ranger, who had stepped up to the plate against Southend the previous week – returning to parent club Middlesbrough, the Yellows put their faith in the unproven Argentinian ace.
Having been snapped up from boyhood outfit Independiente in August 2010, the Mar del Plata-born prospect had repeatedly trained with the Gunners first team under Arsene Wenger. However, where game time was concerned, Martinez had been reduced to kicking his heels in the reserves, for whom he had amassed 15 appearances across two campaigns.
“It is going to be a great experience and I will try to help the team as much as I can. It is exciting,” the rookie goalie gushed after his whistle-stop switch to Oxford was confirmed. “I have played a year and a half for Arsenal, so hopefully I can play more years in England because I really like it,” the tyro went on in what turned out to be a prescient prediction.
Despite his inexperience, the teenager’s top-flight connections sparked curiosity among the U’s ranks. “I remember sitting opposite Emi on the coach to the game, so I got the chance to chat to him. I’m an Arsenal fan, so was asking him a few questions about the squad,” journeyman striker Oli Johnson reminisced to FIFA. “I recall Arsenal were playing in an early kick-off against Norwich whilst we were travelling to the game.”
To say that Martinez was an unfamiliar face for his new club’s players and supporters alike would be an understatement. The fledgling netminder reported for duty without so much as having set foot in Oxford or taken part in a single training session with his short-lived colleagues. Indeed, so far was he from establishing himself that it was not yet common knowledge that he preferred to go by Emiliano, his second given name, rather than Damian, his first – hence the wording of Arsenal’s announcement.
Peter Leven, who lined up in midfield for the Yellows between 2011 and 2013, explained to FIFA how the last-minute move came about. “Our goalkeeping coach was a legend of the game, Alan Hodgkinson, so he had very good contacts, and he reached out to Arsenal and they loaned us Emiliano.”
“We lost 3-0: we actually played OK in the match and I don’t think any goals were Emiliano’s fault,” added Leven, who transitioned into coaching after hanging up his boots and recently had a short stint as an assistant at Rotherham United following almost three years on the staff at Aberdeen.
Also on the team sheet that day was Andy Whing, part of a five-man defence tasked with protecting Martinez’s goal by tactician Chris Wilder, who is currently in charge of Championship club Sheffield United. Whing – himself now in the dugout at National League North (sixth-division) side Brackley Town – conceded to FIFA that Martinez was on a wing and a prayer after being thrown in at the deep end: “It was a tough league debut for Emi.”
“I’m also a massive Aston Villa fan and I was a bit worried when I first saw that we had signed Emi from Arsenal, especially after the experience I had with him at Oxford,” admitted Whing. “But he’s turned out to be an unbelievable player for Aston Villa and one of the best goalkeepers I have seen down Villa Park! I was there in Istanbul to witness us lift a European trophy, which Emi was a massive part of.”
Now fate would have it that an England squad containing a trio of Martinez’s Villa team-mates are the next obstacle that La Albiceleste need to clear as they aim to claim football’s ultimate prize once again.
Johnson, who is now with ninth-tier outfit Tadcaster Albion and is gearing up for what could well be the final season of a much-travelled career in the lower reaches of the English game, underscored that Martinez “seemed like a very humble person and a really nice guy”, adding: “I’m pleased for him that he’s gone on to have the success that he’s had.”
Whing, for his part, is accustomed to cheering on the glovesman week-in, week-out but is hoping that the Holte End crowd favourite drops the ball on this occasion: “He’s the world’s No1 but hopefully he doesn’t have the best of games on Wednesday!”
Sources: FIFA Official
