Emiliano Martinez, Argentina's FIFA World Cup-winning goalkeeper, is all set to make a promotional visit to Kolkata. Martizenz will be the capital of West Bengal either in late June or early July for a promotional tour. It is one of the football loving city's sports entrepreneurs who has taken an inititive as part of which the Argentine will come to Kolkata.
It is being learned that businessman Satradu Dutta personally met Martinez and convinced him to pay a visit to the city. This is the same person who had earlier played a pivoltal role in bringing Pele and Diegao Maradona to India. Interestingly, the Brazilian great Pele and the legendary Argentine Maradona had also come to Kolkata in 1970s and 2008 respectively. Martinez is expected to come to the country at a time in the football calendar where there will be no matches.
Notably, Martinez was a key member of the Lionel Messi-led Argentina that lifted the World Cup in 2022 in Doha. He saved two penalty shots against the Netherlands in what was a tensed finish to the quarterfinal before replicating the same result in the night of the final against France. For his superb performance in the marquee event, Martinez was adjudged the winner of the Golden Glove Award. The World Cup hero also bagged the Best FIFA Men's Goalkeeper honour for his exempleary work between the poles.
In a final that be go down in history as one of the best to have ever been played, Martinez made perhaps among the most crucial interventions ever to have been made by a goalkeeper in such a high-pressure game. With match poised at 3-3 and the match heading into the 123rd minute, France forward Randal Kolo Muani's shot looked set to find the bottom corner of the net but Martinez was alert and made a stunning save with his left boot to make sure that the match heads into the penalty shootout where La Albiceleste eventually emerged as the winners.