Emiliano Martinez award 'borders on ridiculous' after Lionel Messi jibe
Emiliano Martinez was awarded his first Yashin Trophy at the Ballon d'Or awards night in Paris earlier this week with former Inter Milan and Hearts striker Mauricio Pinilla labelling the decision "ridiculous".
Pinilla also claimed that Messi should not have won the Ballon d'Or, claiming that 'a player from MLS should not win the award'.
The Aston Villa goalkeeper was one of the best performing goalkeepers at the World Cup, making some incredible stops including a penalty save in the shootout from France's Kingsley Coman in the final. Martinez had produced similar heroics in Argentina's shootout with the Netherlands to advance from the quarter-finals.
However, he has received backlash from winning the award - with many fans believing there to have been more worthy nominees for winning the award. And former Chile striker Pinilla has stated he does see the award as credible after it was given to Martinez. Speaking to ESPN, he said: "I no longer believe in these awards. Dibu Martinez’s thing borders on the ridiculous."
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Recently retired Pinilla spent time in the SPL with Hearts for just one season in 2007, while spending the majority of his career in Serie A, making 45 appearances for Chile. Martinez also ranked highly in the Ballon d'Or award, finishing 15th, ahead of Harry Kane, Karim Benzema and Jude Bellingham.
Interestingly, Martinez was not the highest-rated goalkeeper, with Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal) finishing 13th after his strong season with Sevilla, when he was named Man of the Match in the Europa League final win. A number of fans had taken to social media to react to Martinez's placing, with one writing: "How can Martinez win the award for best GK but finish below Bonou in overall voting," while another said: "Bounou had an incredible World Cup and won the Europa League. He deserved that award."
(AFP via Getty Images)Bounou's Morocco were one of the shock team's of the World Cup, making it all the way to the semi-finals after defeating Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal on the way. They were eventually defeated by France with Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani scoring. However, many have argued Martinez was deserving of the award thanks also to his club performances, with Aston Villa finishing higher than both Tottenham and Chelsea in seventh place, despite sacking their manager Steven Gerrard in the season and replacing him with Unai Emery.
Martinez joined Villa in 2020 after spending eight years at Arsenal, mostly as a third-choice option at the club. The Argentinian had six loan spells, some in the lower leagues of English football with Oxford United, Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham United and Reading while also having a spell at Getafe. He impressed quickly with Villa, before earning his first cap with the national side in 2021, where he has now established himself as the first-choice option with 34 appearances in two years.
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