The UEFA president has questioned why Emiliano Martinez went to such extreme lengths to taunt Kylian Mbappe after the World Cup final.
Argentina won a captivating showpiece finale in Qatar in December 2022, with the Aston Villa shot-stopper claiming the Golden Glove award for his performances during the tournament.
The 30-year-old attracted some controversy for his actions taunting PSG‘s Mbappe during the decisive penalty shootout against France, and the obscene way in which he celebrated with the Golden Glove trophy.
Now a new book ‘Messianic’ by Argentine journalist Sebastián Fest and French reporter Alexandre Juillard suggests that UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin was not impressive with Martinez’s antics – and wondered why his Argentina team-mate Lionel Messi – also colleagues with Mbappe at PSG – did not step in to control it.
As reported in Mundo Deportivo, Ceferin said: ‘I don’t understand why Dibu mocked Mbappe. Messi should’ve told him to show respect.’
Lionel Messi, Emiliano Martinez and Kylian Mbappe collected awards after the World Cup final
The UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin hit out at Martinez’s actions at the World Cup final
Ceferin added: ‘In the end, Messi plays all year with Kylian Mbappe.
‘If you see how he reacted during penalties… I can’t understand why he mocks Mbappe, the one with the puppet and things like that. That’s not sportsmanship, it was primitive and I didn’t like it.’
The UEFA president also called Martinez’s decision to place the Golden Glove trophy in front of his genitals moments after accepting the award as ‘a disgusting thing’.
Ceferin added: ‘That is not done. You won the World Cup! Show some greatness, show that you are not primitive. You can be a perfect goalkeeper, but if you are not a good person…’
The Slovenian lawyer, 55, also claimed that Argentina ‘deserved’ to win the trophy for being better than France on the night, even though he felt that the South American side ‘would not have even reached the quarterfinals’ without Messi’s involvement.
After a rocky start to their league campaign, Martinez’s Aston Villa have notably improved their fortunes under new boss Unai Emery, taking the Villains on the verge of the European places since taking over just before the World Cup.
Meanwhile, PSG’s season has fallen apart since the players returned from the winter World Cup. They were eliminated from the Champions League at the last-16 stage, and their lead in Ligue 1 has been cut down.
Ceferin said Martinez’s obscene gesture with the Golden Glove trophy was ‘a disgusting thing’
SRC: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/
