Emi Martinez says his ‘family will be crying’ in Argentina after Arsenal’s FA Cup win

Emi Martinez says his family in Argentina will have been in floods of tears after he completed a remarkable rise by winning the FA Cup.

Martinez joined Arsenal 10 years ago as a teenager in the hope of providing a better life for his family, who at times when he was growing up did not have enough money to feed everyone.

Since moving to north London, the goalkeeper has been loaned out six times, but he finally got his chance this season after the club’s No1, Bernd Leno, suffered a knee injury last month.

Martinez stepped up and on Saturday he capped a remarkable run of games by lifting the famous old trophy.

The 27-year-old broke down in tears during an interview with the BBC afterwards and confessed his family back home would be crying too.

“At the end of the game I couldn’t talk, I was too emotional,” Martinez told Arsenal Digital. “Everyone says when you work hard you get your rewards — and I think I did today. I worked really hard in this club for opportunities like this. I couldn’t be prouder.

“I spoke to [my family] the whole week [before the game] but my dad didn’t want to speak a lot about it because he was too nervous. But I bet in Argentina they were all crying — 100 per cent.

“It was an amazing performance. I think we played the best football of our season by far, even when we were losing. Normally this season, when we’re losing 1-0, our heads go down, but you can see how we fight for the manager, ourselves and our families.”