Goalkeeper Dibu Martínez, one of the heroes of Argentina’s World Cup victory over France in the Qatar final, offered an unusual and rather light-hearted explanation of a moment that has gone down in World Cup history.

In the final minutes of extra time, with the score at 3–3, France’s Kolo Muani had the chance to secure a third World Cup title for his country. The striker found himself one-on-one with the Argentine goalkeeper and shot from point-blank range. Martínez showed remarkable agility and managed to prevent the goal with his left leg.

Dibu Martínez’s “miracle” took the match to a penalty shoot-out, which culminated in Argentina’s victory and the Albiceleste’s third World Cup title. However, what almost nobody knew – at least until today – is that the save had less to do with a miracle and more to do with Pilates classes. At least, that is what the Argentine legend claims.

“For the past year and a half, people have been sending me the video of that save from Kolo Muani’s shot every single day. I went out there and stretched. After that, you might make the save, or you might not. I’ve made saves like that a few times in the Premier League, but not quite like that day… I still do Pilates, you see? And when I stretch my leg, I say, ‘Ah, that one got me into the World Cup.’ And we all have a laugh about it with the instructors. And they tell me, ‘It’s not luck, it’s training.’ That’s why I recommend everyone to stretch. It won me a World Cup,” explained the goalkeeper in an interview.

After saving Argentina in extra time, Dibu Martínez cemented his status in the penalty shoot-out by saving Coman’s spot-kick and seeing Tchouaméni shoot wide. Argentina’s number 23’s performances at the World Cup and his form at Aston Villa earned Martínez the award for the world’s best goalkeeper.