Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez has thanked the Argentina backroom staff following his hat-trick during the 4-0 triumph over Mexico. The 22-year-old has been a regular for the South America heavyweights since the conclusion of the previous World Cup and he expressed his pleasure after scoring his maiden international treble against El Tri.
Speaking to Fox Sports, Martinez acknowledged that Argentina have a large pool of players to choose from and there are no assurances of a permanent spot in the team, he told: “If it was difficult to get here, it is much more difficult to remain permanently in the Albiceleste with so many players of such high quality playing in Europe. That is why I wish to I thank Scaloni, his technical staff and my teammates for all the support and trust they give me. I had the support of all the team members yesterday, they trusted me and helped me.”
Martinez has been offered with a regular run upfront with the national team and that has delivered success, given he has netted nine times from just 13 appearances. The majority of those goals have come through the form of friendlies but there are still positives from the fact the Argentine has made the most of those opportunities.
Meanwhile, at the club level, Martinez has yet to find the same level of success and that could be attributed to the different style of play. The 22-year-old has netted just nine times since making the move to Inter Milan from Racing Club last year but there are hopes that he can become a potent goalscorer in the future.At present, Martinez has competition from Romelu Lukaku for the centre-forward role and the Belgian has the widely touted to command the centre-forward position. Such a situation may see Martinez drop to the bench or play alongside the former Manchester United man upfront.