Lisandro Martinez scored a vital goal in extra-time for Argentina this weekend as his team progressed to the quarter-finals after beating Cape Verde.
After the game our defender spoke to TyC about what the goal meant to him after reflecting on recent dark times in his career that made him feel like he needed to retire. The defender has been plagued by a series of severe injuries, most recently suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury in February 2025 and a subsequent calf issue. He played in 49 of the possible 114 Premier League games over the last three seasons but has revealed his daughter and wife motivated him to keep fighting.
When I think about everything I went through because of my injury, it makes me want to cry. I was considering retiring from football. In the first month that happened to me, where I just didn’t want to suffer anymore, you know? Because I had already gone through other foot injuries when I fractured my fifth metatarsal and this one was honestly the worst, the worst of all.
I was really hit low, but then my daughter was born, and that kind of balanced everything out for me. I saw how my wife gave birth and the immense effort she made, and I said to myself, ‘How am I not going to keep fighting?
