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When Argentina goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez, made an incredible save in the dying seconds of additional time, he didn’t just change the outcome of the World Cup final and deny France a second consecutive title after winning the Russia 2018 World Cup, but he protected the legacy of Lionel Messi and saved him from another heartbreak after losing the 2014 final against Germany.
But although a lot of people have declared the save as the greatest in the history of football, there’s actually another save that was of the same importance, was also in a World Cup final, also helped the team become world champions and required great goalkeeping skills and composure under pressure. And that save is of Iker Casillas in the 2010 South Africa World Cup final between Spain and The Netherlands.
And while the similarities are great between both saves, it would be unfair to call the Dibu Martinez save as the greatest of all time, when in fact, Casillas went through a lot to keep a clean sheet in the World Cup final. Because in a final where Martinez conceded a hattrick from Kylian Mbappe, Casillas stopped anything and everything from going through. He didn’t just make ONE spectacular save against Arjen Robben, but he stopped the Dutch legend from scoring two clear goals.
For a guy who played at Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, Arjen Robben is, without a doubt, one of the greatest players of his generation. And getting past two of the best defenders ever, Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique, twice in a single World Cup final, is proof of Robben’s abilities. On the other hand, Randal Kolo Muani is a relatively good player, but NEVER as good as Robben. So between Iker Casillas and Dibu Martinez, Casillas made a save against a FAR BETTER PLAYER.
Iker Casillas’ one versus one save against Arjen Robben was spectacular. And so was the Martinez one versus one save against Kolo Muani. So why would people judge the save of Martinez as better than that of Casillas?! When Robben was face to face with the Spanish goalkeeping legend, it was as if he was shooting a penalty. Centered in the middle of the box, with both time and options, the chance of missing was very low, especially for someone with Robben’s standards. But Randal Kolo Muani didn’t have those options. He was in a tighter angle, without as many options.
So the truth is, Iker Casillas gifted Spain the 2010 World Cup, and Dibu Martinez gifted Argentina the 2022 World Cup. And along with the World Cup trophy, both goalkeepers winning the World Cup golden glove is a testament of their historic saves. Both goalies made a spectacular spread that prevented two undeniable goals. But because Dibu is a taller and bigger goalkeeper, his size gave him a clear advantage that smaller goalkeepers wouldn’t have. One of those smaller goalkeepers is Iker Casillas, and whose save against Robben was sheer talent on full display.
When Dibu Martinez kept the World Cup final tied at three-all, a penalty shootout had to decide the world champion. But a penalty shootout without mind games from Emiliano Martinez just wouldn’t work. He got Real Madrid star Tchouameni to miss maybe thee most important penalty kick of his life. He’s done it before, both at club, and at country level. And unless FIFA steps in, he’ll probably do it again. Meanwhile, it took class from someone like Iker Casillas to make one of the most important saves in football history, and then attribute the save to just … being … lucky.