Argentina's FIFA World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has decided to auction off the pair of keeping gloves he used in the final of the marquee world event in December 2022. The bidding war has reportedly helped him raise over $45,000 all of which will be donated to a children's cancer hospital.
While he acknowledged that a World Cup final is not played every day, he admitted that it made more sense to help save lives of children rather than just hang the gloves in a frame. The auction was held online and Martinez joined it via video-link from England which is where he stays when representing Aston Villa in Premier League.
He said that as soon as he was offered the opportunity to sell of his gloves, he did not think twice as it was for a good cause that the entire team believed in. Moreover, he signed the inside of the gloves when he had announced that he would put the garment for auction in February.
Argentina defeated France in FIFA World Cup 2022 Final
Notably, Argentina had defeated France in the summit clash of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. While the match had ended at 3-3 after full time and extra time, it was La Albiceleste who emerged victorious in the end which meant despite scoring a hat-trick in the match and eventually bagging the Golden Boot award, Kylian Mbappe ended as the runners-up.
The World Cup trophy was one of the major points of differentiation when choosing between Lionel Messi and Mbappe in the Best FIFA Awards announced in late February. Most of the prizes were bagged by the tournament-winning side with Messi winning The Best Men's Player and Martinez bagging the best goalkeeper honour.
In addition, Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni was also voted the Best Coach for the year 2022.