A number of Aston Villa players are in action this week on international duty, including Emiliano Martinez who has set a new record with Argentina.
Leon Bailey, John McGinn and Matty Cash were also in action on Thursday night, while Pau Torres and Jhon Duran were unused substitutes, but it was Martinez who caught the eye with his impact in a 1-0 win over Paraguay.
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The 31-year-old registered his seventh consecutive clean sheet for the Albiceleste, and in doing so, also set a new national team record having now gone 622 minutes without conceding a goal, as per Villa’s round-up.
The last goal he scored was in the World Cup Final against France last year, and so he has continued to build on that success in Qatar.
It’s a superb achievement for the Villa No.1, who continues to show his class and influence for club and country, and he’ll hopefully return ahead of facing West Ham Utd on October 22 in high spirits.
The Argentine shot-stopper has featured for us 10 times so far this season, conceding 14 goals and keeping four clean sheets.
Given his high standards and demands of himself and his teammates, Martinez will likely be content with where we’re currently at as a group, but he will undoubtedly be striving to tighten things up at the back and start racking up more clean sheets to give us a solid foundation.
Nevertheless, for now, his focus will be on Argentina, and it’s great to see one of our key players continue to shine on the international stage, and that will hopefully spill over when he returns later this month as we look to put an important run of results together before the next break.
Several other Villa players will represent their respective countries this week, and so it’s hoped that they all come through unscathed and return to Bodymoor Heath next week in buoyant mood to provide a lift.
