Over the last few years, Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has gained a reputation for rubbing people up the wrong way.
Whether it’s penalty antics or goading the crowd, the World Cup winner has made his fair share of enemies. But how has he irritated so many with his performances and antics? Here, we take a look at the moments that made Martinez one of football’s best wind-up merchants.
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1 ByCharlie Smith Nov 28, 2025 1 Psyching out Yerry Mina Argentina v Colombia, 2021 Copa America
Martinez took full advantage of an empty stadium at the pandemic-delayed Copa America in 2021 by using his taunting skills to put off Yerry Mina during a tense semi-final penalty shootout.
With the scores locked at 1-1, Martinez hurled insults at the defender, saying: “You’re nervous, huh? You’re laughing but you’re nervous. Yeah, yeah. You’re nervous. You’re nervous.
“Hey! The ball is ahead [of the penalty spot]. Yeah, yeah. Turn a blind eye. I already know you.
“Hey, look. See how I know where you’ll shoot. And then I’ll save it. I’m eating you up, brother. I’m eating you up, brother.”
Martinez had successfully flustered his opponent, and Colombia lost 3-2 on penalties, while Argentina went on to win the tournament with a 1-0 win over Brazil.
2 Winding up Ronaldo and teasing United fans Man Utd v Aston Villa, 2021/22 Premier League
With Aston Villa holding on for what would be a historic victory at Old Trafford, those hopes were left dangling by a thread when Man Utd were awarded a stoppage-time penalty.
Not fazed by the situation at all, Martinez prepared his wind-up act.
With Bruno Fernandes appearing favourite to take the kick, Martinez appeared to gesture towards Cristiano Ronaldo to take the kick himself, presumably to get in Fernandes’ head.
Fernandes was the one to eventually step up but ballooned his shot over the bar, leading Martinez to shake his hips at the devastated crowd to add insult to injury.
3 Dancing at the World Cup Netherlands v Argentina, 2022 World Cup
Martinez brought his post-penalty dancing to a global audience when the Netherlands and Argentina met in the World Cup quarter-finals.
After a 2-2 draw in normal time, the sides couldn’t be separated in the extra period, either – which meant it was time for Martinez to strut his stuff again.
The Villa ‘keeper kept out Virgil van Dijk to get the shootout off to a flyer, before repeating the trick with Steven Berghuis’ spot-kick.
The latter prompted La Albiceleste’s No 1 to celebrate with the fans, with the kicks being taken at the Argentina end. He was later labelled “crazy” for his actions, but that didn’t stop him from repeating them in the final.
4 Making crude gesture with the Golden Glove Argentina v France, 2022 World Cup
Winning the World Cup is a moment of immense pride, but you can also get carried away in the delirium of taking home football’s biggest prize.
Emi Martinez fell victim to this in the presentations following Argentina’s dramatic shootout win over France, during which he was handed the Golden Glove for being the best goalkeeper at the tournament.
Upon receiving the trophy, Martinez made a lewd gesture among a series of post-match taunts, angering the French FA, which launched an official complaint against his behaviour.
He had also called for a minute’s silence for Kylian Mbappe in the dressing room after denying the hat-trick hero a second World Cup.
5 Battling fellow mischief-maker Neal Maupay Brentford v Aston Villa, 2023/24 Premier League
Martinez vs Maupay is perhaps as box-office as it can get when it comes to a certain type of, shall we say ‘housery’.
And during a heated match between Brentford and Aston Villa in the 2023/24 Premier League, both players came to blows as they tried to outdo each other.
The main flashpoint between them came when Maupay collided with Martinez when retrieving a ball that went out of play, with Martinez making the most of the contact.
Moments later, Maupay went down under even lighter contact from the goalkeeper, with Martinez attempting to drag the Frenchman to his feet and Maupay almost ending up with his shirt over his head.
It was as farcical as it was entertaining.
6 Yellow card chaos (and more crowd-teasing) Lille v Aston Villa, 2023/24 Conference League
Martinez was the villain of the piece once again as Aston Villa prevailed in the Conference League quarter-finals.
Despite already being on a yellow card, the Villa shot-stopper wasted no time getting to work once the game entered a shootout.
As Nabil Bentaleb was stepping forward to take Lille’s first penalty, Martinez made sure he got to the ball first, much to the annoyance of the home support – before saving from the Algerian.
Martinez proceeded to gloat by shushing the Lille faithful, who responded by hurling objects at the Argentinian.
The goalkeeper’s protestations – or provocations – as a result of the missiles led to another yellow card from the referee, who had repeatedly warned Martinez he was on a tightrope.
Staying on the pitch due to a rarely seen rule regarding cautions not being carried over into penalty shootouts.
Not done there, Martinez then saved a match-winning kick from Benjamin Andre, before failing to resist a final celebratory jig in the direction of the fans.
7 Scrapping with Jack Grealish Aston Villa v Man City, 2024/25 Premier League
Jack Grealish didn’t get the best of receptions when he came back to Villa Park with Manchester City earlier this season, handing Martinez a chance to gee up the home supporters.
Martinez took issue with Grealish after the former Villa hero approached the referee to make a complaint, supposedly about the amount of added time.
Grealish got a shove from the goalkeeper for his troubles, and after Martinez was booked for his role in the skirmish, the two players continued to trade verbal blows down the tunnel.
Luckily for Grealish, he’s not the first, nor the last, player to let Martinez get under his skin.