Martinez fires back at critics as Argentina stun England to reach World Cup final

Lisandro Martinez declared Argentina the side that ‘plays without fear’ after they came from a goal down to beat England 2-1 in the World Cup semi-final on Wednesday, booking their place in Sunday’s final against Spain.

England took the lead in the 55th minute but retreated deep after scoring, with Thomas Tuchel making a series of defensive substitutions — withdrawing Anthony Gordon, Reece James and Declan Rice in favour of Ezri Konsa, Dan Burn and Nico O’Reilly. Argentina punished the shift in approach almost immediately, with Lionel Messi assisting the equaliser before setting up Lautaro Martinez’s winner deep in added time.

Tuchel faced widespread criticism for the changes but was unrepentant at full-time. “It’s easy to say my decisions were wrong after the defeat,” the England manager said.

Manchester United centre-back Martinez, who played the full 90 minutes, was direct in his assessment of the contest. “I won’t lie to you, we’re all Argentinians, and we experienced it like the fans,” he said. “We knew the magnitude of this game and went for it from the first minute. We had to suffer because they’re a very tough opponent, but in the end, we’re always the ones who take the initiative, the ones who play without fear, and the ones who want to win.”

Martinez also addressed pre-match criticism of his partnership with Tottenham’s Cristian Romero from Gary Neville. “We’re used to people always talking about us,” he said. “It seems like they like doing it, and we respond on the pitch — that’s it, always with respect.”

Romero was equally pointed in his response. “The only thing I hope for is that when I retire, I am not that stupid. Hopefully I won’t criticise a player or anyone. At the end of the day, we are doing our best for our national team. I think we are making history — for us it is something really huge, and we feel the significance of this shirt like no one else.”

Martinez is expected to start in the final against Spain on Sunday. He will then take a post-tournament break before returning for pre-season with United.