Broke finger in warm-up but helped team win Europa League: 'It didn't affect me'

The injury didn't seem to affect the Argentine goalkeeper, who kept the net intact and made several impressive saves to help England win their first trophy in 30 years.

Emiliano Martinez: “I didn't consider the injury a bad thing”

During the warm-up, Emiliano Martinez withdrew to receive treatment from Villa's medical staff and had his finger bandaged before returning to the pitch for the start of the final.

At the end of the game, the Argentine said that this did not prevent him from having a good performance and helping Aston Villa win the Europa League.

“What I achieved tonight was beautiful. I'm proud and I feel like I'm continuing to grow game by game.

Today I broke my finger during the warm-up, but I didn't think it was a bad thing, it didn't affect me. I never broke a finger and every time I tried to catch the ball the finger would just slide the other way. You have to go through things like that to become a champion.

The truth is that the fans and the club are like family to me. Every time I go out to defend Aston Villa's goal, I do it with immense pride. Today I tried to put all my experience and all those training sessions that no one ever sees and it finally paid off today.

I am extremely happy. Now it's time to celebrate with the boys. Something this team hasn't had the opportunity to do in a long time. Then my attention will turn to the World Cup,” said Emiliano Martinez, according to espn.com.

It seems unlikely that the injury will have any bearing on his participation with Argentina, who defend their World Cup title starting in June.

Argentina will face Jordan, Algeria and Austria in Group J at the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.