Argentine goalkeeper Emi Martinez recently came out to respond to Italian coach Gennaro Gattuso's criticism over CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers. The Italian coach shared that it was unfair that the South American teams had it easy compared to the European teams. Martinez was not happy with the comments and responded that Europeans do not know how difficult the South American Qualifiers are.
He responded, "They [the Europeans] always play on perfect, watered courts. They don't know what it's like to play in South America."
Speaking to the media after Italy's match against Moldova, the Italian coach shared that it was unfair that the European nations had to play the playoffs through tough competitions. He further pointed out that six of the South American teams got direct entry to the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
He shared, "It's not fair that six South American teams qualify directly for the World Cup and the seventh plays a playoff, while here in Europe the groups are so even. Seeing that saddens me a little."
Notably, countries like Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil have already qualified as they were seated at the top of the CONMEBOL table.
Martinez's poor pass in the first half of the match resulted in Liverpool's first goal of the evening by Mo Salah. While talking about it, the former England and Aston Villa goalkeeper shared that the wrong pass and the goal put the team in a different headspace that they struggled to come out of throughout the night.
He explained, "Had it have been in the first five minutes, you would think there is plenty of time for Villa to get back in it. But to happen just before half-time changes the mood and both managers' team talks. Martinez has tremendous qualities and clean sheets are not always the best judge of how a goalkeeper is doing. However, Villa have not had many in the last couple of seasons."
Martinez is currently with his national team preparing for their friendly match against Angola.
