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Roberto Martinez believes Tim Howard’s performance at the World Cup this summer should give everyone at Everton FC a reason to be proud.

The Blues ‘keeper was in fine form for the USA as they reached the last 16 in Brazil.

After a solid group stage, the veteran goalkeeper produced one of the most memorable displays of the tournament in his country’s second round tie against Belgium.

The 35-year-old made an incredible 16 saves, the most ever recorded at a World Cup finals match, although his heroics were not enough to prevent his side slipping to a 2-1 defeat.

Martinez, though, says the American can take pride in his showing on the world’s biggest stage.“He was magnificent,” the Blues boss told the ECHO. “Once again he showed what an incredible ambassador he is, both for club and country.

“He had a fantastic tournament, and that performance in the last 16 will stay in the history books forever. I certainly can’t envisage a goalkeeper making that amount of saves in a World Cup game any time soon.

“He can be very proud of his performance, and I think everyone at Everton can take pride in the way one of our great ambassadors has performed too.He did the club proud as well as himself.”

Martinez, whose Blues squad returned from their six-day training camp in Austria over the weekend, spent the early weeks of the summer in Brazil, where he was working as a television pundit for ESPN.

And the Catalan believes the chance to watch the world’s best coaches and players up close can only benefit him in the long run.

He said: “It is the second World Cup that I have attended, and I have to say I really enjoyed it.

“It intrigues me to see the different ways coaches prepare their teams, the different training methods and the different ways they set their sides up.

“For me, this was the best World Cup that I have seen in my lifetime. The first tournament I saw was in 1982, but this was the most entertaining, most exciting tournament I can remember, and I think that the feeling generated by it can filter around the world.

He added: “As a scouting exercise, the big advantage you have when you are watching a player at a tournament is that you can see how he copes with the weight of expectations, when the whole nation is behind him.

“You see at international level that there are players who maybe don’t feature so much for their club side, but when they are with their country they are a key player, and so you can see how they handle that kind of role.

“Psychologically, the demands on players at a World Cup is huge, and that can be very instructive when you are looking at a player as a possible transfer target. Even Germany, the eventual winners, faced criticism throughout the tournament.

“So as a scouting mission, being at a tournament like that can tell you a lot that you might not have found out otherwise. I really enjoyed it.”

Martinez revealed to the ECHO on Saturday that he was looking to bring in “one midfielder and three attacking players” before the end of the summer transfer window.

He has not given up hope of bringing Romelu Lukaku back to Goodison Park, but reports out of London this weekend claim the Belgian is ready to stay and fight for his place at Chelsea ahead of the new season, with Jose Mourinho prepared to give the 21-year-old a chance to prove his worth at Stamford Bridge.