Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez has earned widespread praise from his Argentina teammates after he helped his country progress to the semi-finals of the World Cup, beating Netherlands on penalties.
Martinez started on the left of a back three which included Nicolas Otamendi and Cristian Romero. The bad tempered affair saw 15 bookings dished out, including one to the United man as things reached boiling point on several occasions.
Argentina looked on course for a comfortable evening with Nahuel Molina giving the South Americans a first half lead. Lionel Messi made it two from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute as progression looked to be all but secured.
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Ten minutes later, Wout Weghorst made things interesting to get the Dutch back in the contest. In the 11th minute of second half stoppage time, Weghorst slotted home his second of the contest to send the match to extra time.
Both teams had chances to win it but the match was eventually settled on penalties with Lautaro Martinez coolly dispatching the winning penalty to see Argentina through. After the game, United's Martinez took to Instagram to celebrate his country's progression.
In a post, he wrote: "So proud to be Argentine and to be part of this group. Let's go."
In the comments section, Martinez's Argentinian teammates were quick to praise their centre-back. Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez simply responded: "Animal," while Papu Gomez replied: "What a party little brother."
Rodrigo De Paul wrote: "I love you, you're tremendous." Nicolas Tagliafico, Guido Rodriguez and Marcos Acuna sent heart, hands up and fire emojis respectively.
In order to reach the World Cup final next Sunday, Argentina will have to beat Croatia on Tuesday night in Lusail. The European side dispatched Brazil on penalties sending United's Casemiro, Fred and Antony home.
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