sport news Emiliano Martinez dubbed the 'executioner of France' penalty heroics in Aston ... trends now
French newspapers have bemoaned the return of the Emiliano Martinez after the Argentine goalkeeper inspired Aston Villa to a penalty shoot-out victory over Lille in the Europa Conference League.
Martinez he been branded as 'Public Enemy Number One' by French outlet Get French Football News ahead of the quarter-final match with his World Cup final antics still fresh in the mind.
The 31-year-old had been accused of 'dark arts' in the final by repeatedly grabbing the ball after penalties to waste time, as well as dancing after saving from Aurelien Tchouameni and Kingsley Coman.
He then won the golden glove in the post-game presentation and angered fans with an X-rated gesture, but attracted further controversy by calling for a minute's silence of Kylian Mbappe and later holding aloft a baby doll with the striker's face on it.
History repeated itself on Thursday as Martinez saved two Lille penalties while being at the centre of controversy, with the goalkeeper shown a second yellow card during the shootout.
Emiliano Martinez was Aston Villa's hero during their penalty shootout victory over Lille
Argentine sports daily Ole declared Martinez a 'hero' and claimed the goalkeeper had silenced Lille supporters after being provoked by the home crowd
The Aston Villa goalkeeper made the front page of Argentina's largest newspaper Clarin, who wrote that Martinez was 'again the executioner of France'
Having saved from Nabil Bentaleb early on, Martinez put his finger to his lips to quieten the home fans, only for Leon Bailey to miss for Villa to level proceedings.
Martinez was then shown a second yellow card of the game by referee Ivan Kruzliak, but avoided a red due to a little known rule that all bookings are reset before shootouts.
He saved again from the spot from Benjamin Andre to guide Aston Villa into the semi-finals at the expense of another French side.
The goalkeeper's penalty antics were the focus again of French coverage, with L'Equipe declaring 'Provocation and decisive saves: Martinez, the return of the Argentine nightmare for LOSC'.
The newspaper stated that the 'image of an old nightmare suddenly came back to haunt an entire stadium'.
Get French Football News awarded Martinez their man of the match award, despite his pre-match billing, with the Aston Villa shot stopper receiving eight out of 10.
The outlet wrote that Martinez was 'a hero and a villain on the night', noting that he was 'one of the only players to receive two yellow cards and remain on the pitch'.
Argentine newspapers lauded Martinez's latest penalty heroics, with a picture of the
