WHEN I think of Emi Martinez, I should think of his heroic performances which helped Arsenal win the FA Cup in 2020.

And yet the image rudely burned into the world’s collective brain will now forever be his acceptance of the “golden glove” trophy at the end of the World Cup in Qatar.

He had been named the best goalkeeper in this, the most important tournament and so was invited to step up on to the stage – with everybody watching, including proud friends and relatives – to collect the gleaming prize.

At which point, Martinez picked it up and started waggling it around his groin area as if he was XXXXXX XXXXX-ing XXXXX and XXXXXXX a XXXXXX.

I’m sure none of that will get redacted, anyhow it was the kind of thing a teenager might have done after winning a golden joystick on Gamesmaster for beating Pat Sharp or some other celebrity of the time at Out Run or Road Rash.

Know this though, the big moment came and Emi Martinez waggled his trophy at us.

Lucky then, we now have the events of Saturday February 18, 2023. No longer do we have to think of the waggling when we think of Emi Martinez. Now, we have a new memory to keep front and centre, and to replay whenever he says something bitter about his old club. For those who haven’t seen the sequence of events, Martinez, now in goal for Aston Villa, spent his Saturday lunchtime trying to run down the clock as Arsenal searched for a winning goal.

There he was goading the Gunners’ fans and making little effort to disguise his committed time-wasting. Notice that referees may book goalkeepers for this offence, but when did you see a goalkeeper pick up two yellow cards and then a red for it? They just carrying on doing it. It’s a glitch in the game

Arsenal had reached the final moments and were a little desperate when the wonderful happened. Jorginho smacked a long range shot onto the bar, and had been inches from a perfect goal. But then something better happened – the ball came back and hit old big head’s big head and rebounded back into the net. The villain outdone.

There was even more to come. Martinez clearly thought he would simply make amends by heading up for an injury time corner and powering in an equaliser. Super lolz though: The opposite happened and Arsenal broke away to score another goal in his unguarded net. Martinez was later scolded by his manager for being – quote –“embarrassing”.

Maybe you didn’t need these magical Martinez minutes recounted but it’s important. No longer are we stuck with that unwanted image of the golden trophy waggle.

Martinez, in our minds, is now the own goal man.