France striker Rondal Kolo Muani has expressed his hatred for Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez for denying him a chance of becoming a national World Cup hero.
During the 2022 World Cup final that was contested between France and Argentina, Muani got a glorious opportunity to win the game for the Les Blues when it was tied 3-3 in the dying minutes, but Martinez rose to the occasion to thwart the Frenchman’s effort which has kept haunting him up to date.
“That play could have changed my life. I could’ve have preferred to put it on the back burner like everyone else, like all the French, but it happened and these are the vagaries of life.” Muani told L’Equipe
when asked whether he has watched the replay of the game, he said; “I keep watching the play and I see that I have a good chance of scoring but everything is going too fast on the pitch. I want to move on, because it’s part of my job. It’s not that I’m sad, but I will never forget it.
“We were very close to bringing home the third World Cup trophy. I’m not going to lie, I hate Martinez.”
Following Muani’s missed opportunity, Argentina went on to beat France on penalities, and subsequently lifting the World Cup trophy.
Muani is currently with the French squad that is going to face the Netherlands in the upcoming game of Euro qualifiers.
