Lisandro Martinez completed the full 90 minutes for Argentina on his return from injury

Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez has taken to his official Instagram account to post a strong four-word message after helping Argentina to a 1-0 friendly win over Ecuador on Sunday night.

The left-footed centre-back, 26, enjoyed a successful return to action for Manchester United late in the campaign, helping Erik ten Hag’s side beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final at the Wembley Stadium in May. He has since returned to action with the national team, playing his first game for Lionel Scaloni’s side since March 2023.

Lisandro Martinez has been very unfortunate with injury problems in the last 12 months, missing a lot of action for both Manchester United and Argentina. Now fully fit, the 26-year-old was named in the first XI for Argentina’s warm-up game against Ecuador before the Copa America tournament.

Martinez forged a strong partnership with Cristian Romero in central defence and helped Argentina keep a clean sheet, with Angel di Maria scoring a first-half winner at the Soldier Field in Chicago. After the game, he took to his Instagram account and expressed his emotions by posting his and his team’s pictures. He wrote: “Seguimos para adelante juntos @afaseleccion”.

By beating Ecuador 1-0 in a friendly fixture, Martinez and Argentina got their Copa America preparations up and running. The biggest interest to the Manchester United fans was the inclusion of our ‘Butcher’ in the starting XI and thankfully he came through the 90 minutes unscathed.

It was the first time the central defender has completed the 90 minutes since returning from his most recent injury.

The 26-year-old has endured another injury-ravaged campaign at Old Trafford, limiting him to only 14 appearances across all formats. Erik ten Hag did well to build up his fitness levels by handing him minutes in the final two league games against Newcastle United and Brighton, before starting him alongside Raphael Varane in the FA Cup final.

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While Martinez couldn’t complete the final against Man City and was forced off in the second half with cramps, seeing him deliver a strong performance against Ecuador was great.

Hopefully, he will stay fit throughout the Copa America campaign and return to our club without any issues.