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Paulo Dybala reveals ‘last minute’ advice from Emiliano Martinez made him change his mind on where to place his penalty in the World Cup final, after the Argentine star was urged to ‘shoot down the middle’ against Hugo Lloris
- Paulo Dybala scored a penalty for Argentina in the World Cup final penalty shootout
- The Argentine midfielder revealed the advice that Emi Martínez gave him about his penalty
- Dybala affirmed that he changed at the last minute to put his effort in the middle
- He had been planning to go to the side that French goalkeeper Huge Lloris dove
Paulo Dybala has revealed how Emiliano Martínez helped him score his penalty past Hugo Lloris in the World Cup final penalty shootout.
Dybala was one of four Argentine players to score their penalties in Sunday’s main event, with Lionel Messi and Leandro Paredes also scoring, before Gonzalo Montiel secured victory for his team to scenes of jubilation on the Lusail Stadium pitch .
Meanwhile, French midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni deflected his shot after some distracting antics from Martinez, and the Aston Villa goalkeeper also saved Kingsley Coman’s shot.
Paulo Dybala revealed that Emiliano Martínez advised him to put his penalty in the middle
Dybala, who came on late in extra time, hit his shot from the center and explained how he changed his mind after a last-minute piece of advice from Martinez.
“When the coach called me to continue, I knew it was because of the penalties,” he said. Argentinian Outlet Ole .
‘And so I had to try to be as cool as possible. It’s not easy because you don’t play a World Cup final every day.
‘It took me a long time to walk to the dance. It couldn’t have been longer. He had spoken with ‘Dibu’ (Martinez’s nickname).
The attacking midfielder explains how he changed his mind in the last minute of the penalty shootout
Dybala stepped forward after Martinez stopped French striker Kingsley Coman’s effort.
He had advised me to shoot up the middle after they missed (Coman’s effort was saved).
The Roma star continued: ‘They (the goalkeepers) always dive. I was going to go one way, the goalkeeper jumped to that side, but I heard what my partner (Martínez) said.
I changed at the last moment. I listened to ‘Dibu’ because before they had made a mistake and he told me to go through the middle, shoot there and it was a goal.
Martinez could widely claim to be Argentina’s most important player in their World Cup triumph after Messi, with the keeper pulling off a world-class save from Randal Kolo Muani just late in extra time to ensure the vibrant equalizer was out. to penalties.
Dybala scored his penalty after being specifically presented for the World Cup final penalty shootout
His save of Coman came after he had saved two previous penalties in their quarter-final win over the Netherlands in a shootout.
Dybala’s penalty was his only real contribution in the South American team’s third World Cup triumph, with the Roma attacking midfielder playing just 17 minutes in the entire tournament.
He has played 36 caps for his country in total, but struggled with club injuries ahead of the tournament in Qatar, limiting his involvement with Lionel Scaloni’s side.