NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) — There's unlikely to be a debate over the save of the season in the Premier League.
Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez surely has that wrapped up after producing an astonishing save against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
The Argentina international was standing slightly off his line as a header by Forest's Nicolas Dominguez went past him. Martinez stuck out his left hand behind him and somehow managed to drop the ball down onto the ground and scoop it away from off the line in the same motion.
The Premier League described the save as “world class.” The BBC suggested it might be “one of the all-time great Premier League saves.”
Three minutes later, Martinez was celebrating a goal by teammate Jhon Duran that put Villa ahead at the City Ground.
Martinez was voted as the best goalkeeper in the world at the Ballon d’Or awards in each of the past two years.
He famously pulled off a stunning stop in the last seconds of extra time in the 2022 World Cup final to deny France striker Randal Kolo Muani. That kept teammate Lionel Messi’s dream alive of finally winning soccer’s biggest prize.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, right, makes a save against Nottingham Forest's Nicolas Dominguez (16) during a Premier League soccer match at the City Ground, Saturday Dec 14, 2024, in Nottingham, England. (Joe Giddens/PA via AP)
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Isak Andic, the founder of Spanish fashion brand Mango, has died after suffering an accident, the company said on Saturday. He was 71.
“It is with deep regret that we announce the unexpected death of Isak Andic, our non-executive chairman and founder of Mango, in an accident that occurred this Saturday,” Mango CEO Toni Ruiz said in a statement, without providing details.
Spanish news agency EFE and other media outlets, including La Vanguardia newspaper, said Andic died following a fall while hiking near Barcelona.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez paid tribute to Andic on social media, lauding his “hard work and business vision that transformed a Spanish brand into a global fashion leader.”
Andic’s family moved from Turkey to Spain when he was young. He opened Mango’s first store in Barcelona in 1984 and over the following decades helped Mango grow into one of Europe’s leading fast fashion makers.
Mango has 2,700 stores in 120 markets around the world. It set a company record of 3.1 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in sales in 2023. It is currently expanding in the U.S. and plans to have 65 stores there by the end of 2025.
FILE - Isak Andic, the founder of Spanish fashion brand Mango, arrives at the Fall-Winter 2011 Mango's fashion show in Paris Tuesday, May 17, 2011. Andic died after falling while on a hike near Barcelona, the company said on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. He was 71. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)
