Argentina's World Cup semi-final match-winner Lautaro Martínez said he had "dreamt" of scoring the goal which took his team through to the final at England's expense on Wednesday.
"I dreamt it. I told Alexis [Mac Allister] that I was going to score," Martínez said after his heroics off the bench in Atlanta as the reigning champions won the game 2-1. "And I said on the bench to Facundo Medina that I was going to come on and score."
The World Cup holders were trailing 1-0 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium when the Inter Milan striker was sent on in the 81st minute in place of left-back Nicolás Tagliafico.
Lionel Messi set up Enzo Fernández to equalise in the 85th minute and the Argentina captain then crossed for Martínez to head in the winner in the second minute of injury time.
"When my old man first bought me a pair of boots, I always dreamed of scoring this goal," said an emotional Martínez after the game.
When he spoke again to reporters after leaving the dressing room, Martínez said he had just got off the phone to his mother, who was at work.
“From the day I left [home to play for] Racing, she never stopped making my bed, and to me that’s worth more than a goal, more than a final.”
“They ran out of steam,” Martínez said of England, adding: “They pressed for 60 minutes and, after they’d given their all, when they scored, they dropped back.”
“That gave us more composure when moving the ball around; we spread the play wide and eventually scored the goals,” he explained.
The 28-year-old Martínez lost his place in Lionel Scaloni's Argentina team early on their run to glory at the 2022 World Cup.
He started all three group games this time, scoring in the 3-1 win over Jordan, but was substituted in the narrow victory over Cape Verde in the last 32 and has not started since.
Nevertheless, he came on to score in the 3-1 extra-time defeat of Switzerland in the quarter-finals before his decisive role against England.
Argentina will now take on Spain in Sunday's final in New Jersey.
"We are going to be coming up against a top-class side who have not lost in 38 games and have great players," said Martínez. "Now we need to get some rest but also enjoy this because what we are doing is not easy, getting back to the final as defending champions three-and-a-half years after winning it."
Speaking after the match, Scaloni said his squad "never ceases to amaze me."
“We’re going to try to win; we’ll give it our all, but after this it’s going to be very difficult,” he added, referring to the final.
Spain's last defeat was a 1-0 reverse in a friendly against Colombia in March 2024.
The teams were due to meet in Qatar in March in the Finalissima, the fixture recently introduced to pit the European champions against the winners of the Copa America.
That game was postponed due to the war in the Middle East, triggered by US-Israeli strikes against Iran.
The only previous World Cup meeting of Spain and Argentina came in 1966, when the South Americans won 2-1 in a group-stage contest played at Birmingham's Villa Park.
– TIMES/AFP
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