The love story of Emiliano Martínez and his wife Mandinha: how they met and the celebrities who went to the wedding

Emiliano Martinez he won his first title with the Argentine team by winning the Copa América at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, after beating Brazil 1-0. To do this, he had to spend 45 days away from his family and even had to wait for the competition epilogue to meet his second daughter. Martínez is the protagonist of a moving love story with Amanda Gama, better known as Mandinha Martínez, his wife of 8 years.

It was quite strange how he found out that Ava, his little girl, was about to be born. While the Argentine delegation was training on the eve of the game for the semifinals against Colombia, Draw learned that its second heir was on the way through the Manager of National Teams, Omar Souto.

On Sunday, July 4, the goalkeeper worked with his teammates. Therefore, he left the cell phone in his bag. At the same time that he knew that he was going to be a starter at Mané Garrincha, he received several calls from his in-laws from a hospital in England to inform him that his wife was hospitalized and was going to give birth, but Emi did not attend to them.

Then, immediately his in-laws began to call the contacts they had from the National Team and found Souto. They chatted with him and shared the good news. In this way, the manager went to talk to the goalkeeper who, as soon as he finished practice, communicated with his wife through a video call and, in that way, he met Ava 7 thousand kilometers away. The tranquility of having seen her allowed him to continue with his responsibilities under the three suits. And it was an extra motivation for his stellar presentation, against Colombia; that of the three saved penalties and the psychological game that became a symbol of Argentina’s passage through the Cup.

After becoming champion of America, Martínez returned with the delegation to Buenos Aires and was the first to leave the country to go to Birmingham to meet his daughter. In this way, he was unable to visit his parents or his brother Maximiliano in Mar del Plata, whom he has not seen for more than a year and a half, when he visited them for the last time. “They don’t give him the time to go to his hometown and that makes him sad”, emphasized his best friend, Alejandro Muñoz, in dialogue with Infobae.

That sacrifice led him to be the champion goalkeeper of Lionel Scaloni’s team. Draw is 28 years old, was born in the Happy City on September 2, 1992 -a year before the team lifted the Copa América Ecuador 93-, in the El Jardín neighborhood.

He was 12 years old when he tested at Independiente de Avellaneda. His teammates made fun of him because at the beginning he could not jump a fence to cover a ball, or avoid cones, nor did he know how to do coordination work. It was difficult for him because he was not used to those field jobs in Mar del Plata. Over time, he grabbed their hands and outdid himself.

In June 2009 ,dra was sold to Arsenal in England, but his adaptation to the squad was not easy. He was then loaned to Oxford United in May 2012, although his contract was not extended until the end of the season. Without having continuity, he looked for filming in Sheffield Wednesday of the English Championship. After a year he returned to the Gunners, where he made his debut as a starter in the 2-1 win against Anderlecht of Belgium in the group stage of the 2013/4 Champions League. Despite his good performances, he was not taken into account and began a tour of different clubs: Rotherham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Getafe (Spain) and Reading.

In mid-2020, the German Leno had a serious injury that left him off the courts. From there, Martínez managed to have greater continuity and was essential for the team to obtain the FA Cup and the Community Shield. until His final consolidation came on September 16, 2020, when he was transferred to Aston Villa for 22 million euros, with a four-year contract.

Off the field of play, he forged another story, one of love. In the London capital he met the love of his life, the Portuguese Mandinha Martínez, with whom he has been in a relationship since 2013. She is older than him. He turned 29 on January 18. She is an interior designer. He has his own company called My Dreams Kids and it has two stores: one in London and the other in the Shopping Battlers Green Farm, in Watford, on the outskirts of the capital.

“He met his wife waiting for the group he took to go to train at the Arsenal club. He lived around the corner from his house in London. Standing at the bus station, he saw her go by and one day he faced her. He asked him to leave and he accepted. They went to eat something and from there, they are together ”, said Muñoz about his friend, who speaks three languages ​​perfectly because with his wife they began to communicate in English but, over time, he taught him Spanish and she, Portuguese.

From the first crush, they went to live together at the age of two and got married in 2017. The wedding took place on May 22 at the Palace of Brocket Hall, on the outskirts of London.. It started at 12 PM and ended at 3 AM the next day. 80 guests attended, who stayed to sleep in the property that had golf, tennis and soccer fields, as well as a huge pool and luxury rooms. Star players such as Santiago Cazorla, David Ospina, Gabriel Paulista, Nacho Monreal and Héctor Bellerin, among others, were present..

Meanwhile, his former coach, Arsene Wenger, received the invitation but did not attend because his philosophy was always to keep a distance with the player. The only condition to attend the wedding was to wear a tuxedo.

Three days later, they packed their bags and went on their honeymoon for 15 days. First, they got to know the city of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. They rested at the Shades Hotel, did the desert tour and bathed at Jumeirah Beach. Then they stayed for a couple of days in Abu Dhabi, where they went to see the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Finally, they were in the Maldives Islands, in the Indian Ocean.

On June 22, 2018, Emi and Mandinhia had Santi. Upon learning that he was going to be a father for the first time, the goalkeeper became more nervous than on the night he intimidated and saved Davidson Sánchez, Yerry Mina and Edwin Cardona from penalties. When he learned that it was a male, he confessed to his closest friends: “I already have the baby, I’m happy”. During his stay in Brazil, his son turned three years old and Emi greeted him with an Instagram post.

During the pandemic, in November 2019, Emi learned that his wife was pregnant. They did not say anything to anyone for three months until the news was confirmed. A few months later, through a zoom video call with her loved ones, Emi learned the sex of the baby. Organized by his partner, they threw a balloon party without him knowing. When the whole family connected to the Zoom, his wife blew up a balloon containing a pink ribbon that fell to the ground and was the signal that it was going to be a girl.

Another unknown facet of the 195-centimeter archer is his fascination with animals, especially dogs. The family has two females: Nahla, who has been with the family the longest, and Labrador Skyla, who came to the home as a puppy in February 2016. They both met her in London and took them to live in Birmingham.

After 45 days of being locked in a bubble with the national delegation, Martínez returned home to reunite with his family in Birmingham and meet Ava for the first time in an emotional first contact. “He’s mad at her. He arrived, kissed her and held her until she fell asleep. He’s very slimy with the baby “, they told from their environment.

As for Santi, Martínez gave him a nice gift: He brought him a huge toy car track which he handed over after giving him a big hug.. And the boy did not detach himself at any time, he was behind him and chased him throughout the house.

KEEP READING: