Argentina’s World Cup final hero Emi Martinez wouldn’t be where he is today if it was not for his eight games on loan at Rotherham United in 2015.
As a football fan, you should never fall into the trap of getting too attached to your club’s loan players. But with Martinez, Rotherham fans could not resist claiming him as their own.
I watched on gleefully as a Rotherham United supporter when Emi Martinez came into his own on the biggest stage of all to help Argentina beat France on penalties in the World Cup final.
The Aston Villa goalkeeper enjoyed a brilliant tournament and the deserved Golden Glove winner pulled off heroics to prevent Kolo Muani from winning the World Cup for France deep into extra-time.
And from a France perspective, Martinez then went full pantomime villain and proved that he had mastered the art of sh*thousery as he saved Kingsley Coman’s spot-kick and intimidated Aurelien Tchouameni before the Real Madrid starlet shot wide in the 4-2 victory for Argentina.
Martinez has far from had it his own way in his career; much of his time at Arsenal was spent on the sidelines as he was restricted to just 38 senior appearances.
Five years before he was briefly their first-choice goalkeeper in 2019/20, Martinez joined lowly Rotherham on loan as they were battling to stay in the Championship under the brash-but-entertaining Steve Evans.
Joining in March, he came straight into the team and his talent was clear to see; Rotherham benefitted from having a goalkeeper way beyond Championship quality between the sticks. The love affair only lasted for eight games but his contribution was massive as the Millers secured themselves a rare second season in the second tier with a game to spare.
Martinez’s performances struck a chord with the Rotherham faithful as his form enabled Evans the freedom to head to Elland Road on the final day of the 2014/15 campaign in party mode wearing swim shorts and a sombrero. Truly a sight for sore eyes.
Fans of Oxford United, Sheffield Wednesday, Wolves and Reading presumably have similar stories of how they grew attached to Martinez before he left them high and dry.
Given that Evans tends to go through players as often as most people (well, most people not Steve Evans) go through hot dinners, Rotherham were treated to a couple of notable loan players during his rollercoaster spell in charge.
Rangers captain James Tavernier comes to mind as a beloved player Rotherham were lucky to briefly in League One and…
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