KANSAS CITY (Special Envoy).— Emiliano Martínez was one of the happiest after the comeback against Egypt. He hugged everyone after the third goal, looked to the sky when the referee signaled the end, and only then released all the tension. But the joy was not complete, and it was noticeable even during the celebrations. After conceding two goals from just two shots on target, and while his teammates celebrated in the center circle, he walked slowly towards Mostafa Shobeir, congratulated the Egyptian goalkeeper, and only then joined the cluster of players, far from the euphoria of other times.
“I felt I couldn’t help anyone,” he said a few minutes later. The phrase went almost unnoticed amid the relief of qualification, but it explained the moment one of the great leaders of this team is going through. Dibu feels he is still in debt to the group. Against Switzerland, he will seek much more than a place in the semifinals: he will go for that save he still feels he is missing. The one that allows him to regain the confidence he transmitted for so many years every time he put on the national team jersey.
The Mar del Plata native had arrived at this World Cup after a race-against-time recovery and with a very clear objective: to further reduce the number of goals conceded compared to Qatar. However, so far he is experiencing a very different tournament from the one he imagined. “I need to help them a little more, they are saving me in many games, so I’m going to mentally prepare to help them,” he stated. Statistics have always been important to him. He follows them closely, consults them all the time, and often ends up evaluating his performances with those numbers. That demand pushes him to improve, although it also adds pressure that does not always work in his favor.
The data reflects much of his frustration. In five matches, he faced nine shots on target and conceded five goals. He saved four shots and has a save percentage of 44.4%, the fifth lowest among all goalkeepers in the tournament. Only Monir Chamakh of Morocco; Aymen Dahmen of Tunisia; and Uzbeks Utkir Yusupov and Abduvohid Nematov finished with a lower record. Among the teams still in the competition, Dibu has the lowest save rate relative to shots faced.
Despite not showing the solidity of other times, Argentina has suffered few chances in the World Cup so far. The problem is that more than half ended in goals. Dibu was not directly responsible for any of them, nor did he make mistakes that left him singled out, but he also did not come up with those saves that for years gave the national team the feeling that they always had an extra life. He has not yet provided that security that for a long time gave peace of mind to his teammates and also to the fans.
No one within the national team, however, questions his place. Much less Lionel Scaloni. The fracture in the ring finger of his right hand, suffered a few weeks before the World Cup, did not allow him to train normally for much of the preparation. He missed the friendlies against Honduras and Iceland and only returned to full training before the match against Cape Verde. When the coach asked him not to rush his recovery, he also made it clear that his starting spot was not at risk. But Dibu was never satisfied with just being there. He wants to feel good on the pitch again. That is why he was the only regular starter who also played against Jordan, while the coaching staff gave the rest a rest before the knockout matches.
But the one who demands the most is himself. Since 2018, he has worked with British David Priestley, a mental training specialist who has been with him since before joining the national team. He also spends hours watching video to review every play where shots came his way, correct technical and positioning details, and double down on work in every practice with Martín Tocalli, the goalkeeping coach. He is convinced that the match he still lacks also begins to be won during the week.
Already calmer, Dibu also allowed himself to laugh a little about what he had experienced. He shared a carousel on Instagram and closed the post with an image of a person taking someone’s blood pressure. “The last photo is what we all went through, right?” he wrote. In the intimacy of the national team, they took it as a good sign. After several days worried about his level, seeing him laugh a little also brought them some calm.
The comparison with Qatar also makes clear why he sets such a high bar. In that World Cup, he also faced few shots. Saudi Arabia shot twice and scored both; Mexico shot once and could not beat him; Poland did not even hit the target; Australia had two shots and scored one; the Netherlands capitalized on their two shots; Croatia again shot twice and could not beat him; France ended with two goals from five shots.
The difference was that he came through in key moments. He saved two penalties in the shootout against the Dutch to put Argentina into the semifinals, again responded in the shootout against France, and also made two of the most memorable saves in national team history: the one against Garang Kuol to avoid extra time against Australia, and the one against Randal Kolo Muani in the last minute of the final. Now he will try something similar: to go from lesser to greater and be decisive again so that Argentina continues in the race.
Switzerland may give him the match he has been waiting for since the World Cup began. The European team needed 3.6 shots on target to score a goal in this tournament, more than all the opponents Argentina has faced so far. Algeria, Austria, and Cape Verde needed exactly three; and Egypt, 3.2. If the match follows that logic, he will surely have one or two chances to prove he is still the same as always. And that is exactly what he has been looking for since the debut.
In a clash like Saturday’s, any goalkeeper would choose to have no work and let his team secure qualification without suffering. Dibu too. But he knows that one or two saves can change much more than the course of the match. They can also change his story in this World Cup. And return him to the level that made him a goalkeeper of an era.
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para mí esto huele a opereta de la FIFA y los medios vendidos. Dibu es un pibe del pueblo y ya lo quieren crucificar por cinco goles truchos. yo creo que se van a querer matar cuando vuelva a atajar todo. Vamos Argentina carajo, a cagarlos a todos.
Para mí el Dibu es un desastre total, no ataja ni una. Me parece que está en la cuerda floja porque recibió cinco goles en nueve remates, esto huele a que nos va a costar el Mundial. Yo creo que debería estar en la banca, los zurdos lo bancan por moda pero la realidad es que no da una. ¡Fuera Dibu, viva la patria!