Manchester United star Lisandro Martinez could experience a real ‘first’ moment in his career if the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina went to penalties.
Lisandro Martinez has reached his second consecutive World Cup final after defending champions Argentina overcame England in the semi-finals this week.
The 28-year-old Argentine defender took home a World Cup winner’s medal back in 2022 after Argentina’s thrilling penalty shootout win over France in Qatar.
Speaking of penalties, another shootout in a World Cup final against Euro 2024 champions Spain could raise questions for Martinez if he were still on the pitch.
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How Lisandro Martinez might take a penalty for Argentina if the Man Utd star is called up to the spot for the World Cup final
Manchester United centre-back Lisandro Martinez has never taken a penalty across his whole playing career, whether at club level or international level.
The 2022 World Cup winner has not been summoned to the spot-kick during open play or had to step up in a penalty shootout order in a football match so far.
With tournament football, however, expect anything and everything and Martinez might find himself taking his first penalty on the biggest international stage of all.
England prepared for such a situation in their 2-1 semi-final defeat, with Jordan Pickford’s ‘water bottle list’ making the rounds on social media after the match.
Fabrizio Romano shared the photo on X, formerly known as Twitter, which featured what the England camp expected Martinez to do in the event of a penalty shootout.
With no data available on Martinez’s penalty record, Pickford’s list suggested that the Argentine would likely aim for the left side of the net in the event of a spot-kick.
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Key Lisandro Martinez stats during Argentina’s last five major penalty shootouts
Martinez has only been on the pitch once during the last five penalty shootouts that Argentina have been involved in, which came at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Argentina beat the Netherlands 4-3 on penalties in their shootout in the quarter-finals and ex-Ajax star Martinez was not called up to the spot-kick on that occasion.
Martinez was on the bench for Argentina’s penalty shootout wins against Ecuador in the Copa America quarter-final in 2024 and semi-final clash with Colombia in 2021.
The United star also watched the 2022 World Cup final shootout from the bench, while he was not in the squad for the 2016 Copa America final defeat on penalties.
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