Inter striker Lautaro Martinez’s World Cup campaign in Qatar was a mixed bag, but ended in triumph after he never stopped pushing the team forward.
This is the view in today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, who give their retrospective on the 25-year-old’s exploits at the tournament.
Martinez had started in both of Argentina’s first two group stage matches, a shock opening loss to Saudi Arabia and a win over Mexico.
After disappointing performances in both of those matches, Albiceleste coach Lionel Scaloni decided to instead start Julian Alvarez in attack, with the Manchester City striker starting against Poland in the final group stage match and then throughout the knockouts.
Martinez was nevertheless an important part of Argentina’s team throughout the knockouts, coming on in all of their matches except the win over Croatia in the semifinals.
The Nerazzurri striker will look back with some regret on the number of good chances that he passed up during the knockouts.
In matches against Australia in the round of sixteen and then yesterday against France in the final, Martinez was gifted some good opportunities which he failed to take advantage of, coming on to run at defenders with tired legs but lacking the ruthlessness that was needed.
These missed chances meant that at times the results were nervier for Argentina than they needed to be.
Nevertheless, the Gazzetta notes, things were hardly all bad for Martinez throughout the knockouts.
The Inter striker always gave the team a lift in energy and intensity when he entered the pitch as a substitute.
Albiceleste coach Lionel Scaloni seemed to settle on Martinez as his super-sub in attack, where the 25-year-old could be counted on to raise the energy levels, make himself an option for teammates, and chase lost causes.
The highlight of the Inter striker’s tournament came in the quarter-final win over the Netherlands.
That match finished 2-2 after extra time, after the Albiceleste dramatically let what had at one point been a 2-0 lead over the Oranje slip from their grasp.
Argentina needed penalties to progress to the semifinals, and it was left to Martinez to take the decisive spot kick in the shootout.
Had the 25-year-old missed his kick, then things would have been all square again in the shootout, which would have gone to sudden death.
However, the Inters striker made no mistake with his effort, burying it past Dutch keeper Andries Noppert.
Even if he was unable to score or assist a goal outside of shootouts throughout the tournament, certainly a disappointment given pre-World Cup expectations, Martinez kept his nerve in that moment to send his country into rapture, into the semifinal, and eventually to World Cup glory.
For the Gazzetta, this is indicative of a tournament that was, on the whole, far from perfect for the Nerazzurri striker, but nevertheless deserving of credit for his role in the final outcome.
