Biography

Damián Emiliano Martínez Romero (born 2 September 1992) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Aston Villa and the Argentina national team. Throughout his career, he has gained a reputation for specializing in penalty shoot-outs and saving penalty kicks.

Martínez trained at Independiente's youth ranks before moving to Premier League club Arsenal in 2010. At Arsenal, he initially served as understudy, being loaned to various clubs, before breaking into the starting line-up in 2019, featuring in the Premier League and helping the club win a FA Cup and FA Community Shield. In September 2020, Martínez moved to fellow Premier League club Aston Villa in a transfer worth £20 million. In his first season at the club, he kept a club-record 15 clean sheets in the Premier League.

Martínez represented Argentina in junior international matches from 2009 to 2011. He played on under-17 and under-20 levels. He earned his first senior cap for the Argentina national team in 2021, helping his nation win the 2021 Copa América, winning the Golden Glove trophy and keeping a clean sheet in the final. Martínez went on to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where he also won the best goalkeeper of the FIFA World Cup award, the Golden Glove for his performance in the tournament. For these achievements, he was named The Best FIFA Goalkeeper in 2022 and received the Yashin Trophy in 2023.