Credit: Twitter/ANI
Argentina and Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who played a significant role in Aregntina's FIFA World Cup 2023 victory in Qatar, will visit Kolkata for two days during a promotional event in late June or early July. Sports promoter Satadaru Dutta, who earlier brought late football legends Pele and Diego Maradona to the City of Joy, confirmed the recent development as the visit was validated on Friday.
Emi Martinez is a World Cup-winning goalkeeper from Argentina and also won the Golden Glove award at the Qatar World Cup last year. The 30-year-old Villan goalkeeper's popularity skyrocketed for his game-changing penalty saves against the Netherlands in the quarterfinal match followed by the same intensity in the final against France.
Dutta told PTI, "Tentative dates for the visit are June 20-21 or July 1-3. Everything has been signed and we will decide the exact dates in a day or two. Tomorrow, we will do a small photo shoot. I am delighted that after much effort Martinez will visit Kolkata end of June. With all Argentina fans eagerly waiting, this will be something special for the City of Joy."
As per ANI, the 2021 Copa America best goalkeeper will meet West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, and former Indian Cricket Team's skipper and ex-BCCI President, Sourav Ganguly. The Argentina goalkeeper will also be the chief guest for Mohun Bagan's charity game followed by his participation in a Maradona memorial event and a few sponsor events in his two-day visit.
Apart from his on-field antics, Martinez became popular among the fans for his post-World Cup victory celebrations that involved France striker and Golden Boot winner, Kylian Mbappe. Many fans criticised Martinez for taunting Mbappe and his "unsportsmanlike behaviour."