Hero in the penalties against France and undisputed owner of the goal of the World Champion Team in Qatar, Emiliano “Dibu” Martínez reaffirmed his status as an idol yesterday in his hometown, Mar del Plata, where he was received by nearly one hundred and fifty thousand people with the sea as background.
The Argentine goalkeeper was honored by thousands of residents and tourists who crowded the Las Toscas beach area early, between the Torreón del Monje and the Provincial Hotel, where the Arena Fest was installed to follow each Argentina game during the World Cup.
Excited, he thanked “the encouragement of the people in each game”, who pushed “when the legs did not give”.
“It was a dream when I went to Independiente at the age of 12 to be a professional player and when I started playing in the National Team I wanted to bring a title to my city. I gave him the Copa América, we won the Cup Winners’ Cup at Wembley against the European champions, and we beat the last world champions in Qatar”, he expressed.
The tribute began minutes after 4:00 p.m., with the intervention of local groups, but the posters with thanks and messages for “Dibu” began to fill the place long before.
“Make me upa”, “Look how I eat you”, “Thank you for being from Mar del Plata”, “Thank you for this joy”, “Give me your signature so I’ll tattoo it” were some of the phrases handwritten on cardboard, banners or t-shirts by who filled the ravine of grass and every corner of the beach located next to the sea.
Martínez arrived in the city on Tuesday night, after being part of the festivities on Monday in which the entire campus participated.
After his arrival, the player settled in his house in the closed neighborhood of Rumencó, in the southern zone, and on Wednesday he took the opportunity to play paddle tennis with his brother Alejandro in the World Padel Center complex, located in the Puerto area, as published in their social networks.
Since yesterday morning there were dozens of fans of the National Team who also settled in at the entrance to the closed neighborhood to try to get a photo or an autograph of theirs.
And as the time for the main act in front of the sea approached, it was necessary to block traffic in an area of several blocks along the coast, where about 100,000 people gathered, according to estimates from Civil Defense sources.
Local groups such as Séptimo Día and La Banda de Wally were in charge of the event beforehand, and after Martínez’s arrival at the tribute site around 5:30 p.m. with his family, a video was played on the giant screens with his most important moments. prominent during the world.
On stage, a group of boys and girls from the San Isidro, Urquiza and Talleres clubs in the city, where he played when he was a boy, were with the goalkeeper.
Franco Greco, goalscorer for the Argentine Wheelchair Soccer Team, was also there.
The goalkeeper also had the opportunity to see a compilation with the best moments that were experienced at the Arena Fest throughout the seven matches of the selected team, and the procession of fans from that point to the epicenter of the festivities in the center of the city after the victory on penalties against France last Sunday.
Excited, he recalled the save in the last minute of extra time against France to Randal Kolo Muani: “It was incredible because we were coming from a very good 70 minutes, there was a penalty that came out of nowhere, and they got bigger and were close to winning it, but until The ball doesn’t go in, we don’t have to celebrate”.
People of all ages and with different recognition signs participated in the tribute to Emiliano “Dibu” Martínez in Mar del Plata
