Aston Villa's Emi Martinez sends one word to Lionel Messi on Instagram after Argentina make it through in World Cup

By Milo Clay

Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez sent one word to Lionel Messi on Instagram after Argentina made it through the group stages of the World Cup. 

Martinez has been a consistent performer between the sticks for Villa and his displays have cemented his place as Argentina’s number one. 

It’s been a difficult start to the season for Martinez and Villa after a poor run of form led to Steven Gerrard being sacked in October.  

But the Villains have turned a corner since the arrival of Unai Emery last month and picked up consecutive wins in the Premier League before the World Cup. 

Now, the 30-year-old is enjoying a decent start to the campaign in Qatar with Argentina and they secured their place in the last-16 with a 2-0 win over Poland last night. 

And Martinez has now reacted to his international teammate Messi’s display on Instagram. 

Martinez sends one word to Messi 

The Paris Saint-Germain star was denied from the penalty spot by Wojciech Szczesny in the first-half. But the 35-year-old put in a dazzling display for Argentina with his mazy runs and brilliant passing. 

Messi posted a series of pictures of the Argentina players celebrating on Instagram after the game. 

And Martinez responded with: “Vestite,” accompanied by a fire emoji – which translates to ‘get dressed’ in English. 

Martinez has now kept two clean sheets for Argentina at the World Cup after their disappointing 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia last week. 

Messi rates the Villa shot stopper highly and even labelled him as ‘one of the best in the world’ last year. 

Martinez is one of three Villa players representing their countries at the World Cup, with Matty Cash lining up for Poland while summer signing Leander Dendoncker is with Belgium. 

Villa fans will be hoping to see the trio perform well before they return to the Midlands next month ahead of an important second-half of the season for Unai Emery’s men.