Paulo Dybala reveals 'last minute' penalty advice from Emiliano Martinez changed his mind

Paulo Dybala has revealed how Emiliano Martinez helped him to score his penalty past Hugo Lloris in the World Cup final shootout.

Dybala was one of four Argentinian players to net their spot kicks in Sunday's showpiece event - with Lionel Messi and Leandro Paredes also scoring - before Gonzalo Montiel secured the victory for his side to spark jubilant scenes on the Lusail Stadium pitch.

Meanwhile, France midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni put his effort wide after some distraction antics from Martinez, and the Aston Villa keeper also saved Kingsley Coman's effort.

Dybala - who came on at the end of extra time - put his spot kick down the middle and explained how he changed his mind after some last-minute advice from Martinez.

'When the coach called me to to go on, I knew it was for penalties,' he told Argentinian outlet Ole .

'And so I had to try to be as cool-headed as possible. It is not easy because you don’t play a World Cup final every day.

'It took me a long time to walk to the ball. It couldn’t have been longer. I had spoken with 'Dibu' (Martinez's nickname).

'He had advised me to shoot down the middle after they had missed (Coman's effort was saved).

The Roma star continued: 'They (keepers) always dive. I was going to go for the side, the goalkeeper dove to that side, but I heard what my colleague (Martinez) said.

'I changed at the last minute. I listened to 'Dibu' because they had made a mistake before me and he told me to go down the middle, shoot there and it was a goal.'

Martinez could widely claim to be Argentina's most important player in their World Cup triumph after Messi, with the keeper pulling off a world class save from Randal Kolo Muani right at the end of extra time to ensure the pulsating tie went to penalties.

His save from Coman came after he had saved two previous penalties in their quarter-final victory over the Netherlands in a shootout.

Dybala's penalty was his only real contribution in the South American side's third World Cup triumph - with the Roma attacking midfielder playing just 17 minutes throughout the tournament.

He has won 36 caps in total for his country, but had struggled with injury for his club side leading up to the tournament in Qatar, thereby limiting his involvement for Lionel Scaloni's side.