When it comes to the tantalising ordeal of penalty shoot-outs in soccer, Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Rowen Fernandez is fast earning the reputation of a "Miracle Man". He not only saves penalties, he also scores from them.
And at a tense, emotional Loftus on Saturday afternoon, the imperturbable Fernandez produced another of his amazing double acts to guide Amakhosi to a stunning 4-3 penalty shoot-out victory over a visibly-shaken Manchester United in the final of the Vodacom Challenge Series after the teams had finished level 0-0 after 90 minutes.
A near-capacity crowd of close to 50 000 joined the Chiefs' players in rapturous delight over a win that negated United's 1-0 success when the teams met in Cape Town during the week, with Fernandez speedily buried under a maze of congratulating team-mates.
And the Amakhosi camp could be forgiven amid the euphoria of their mini-triumph for forgetting that their success was achieved over what was little more than a United reserve line-up.
After all, "a win is a win is a win," -- as American baseball legend Leo Durocher proclaimed.
The game itself in conditions not unlike those of England's current sunny summer failed to come up to expectations, with United uncharacteristically squandering a host of chances that could have transformed their territorial ascendancy into a comfortable victory.
And while on-loan Chinese international Fangzhou Dong might have recorded a hat-trick had he taken advantage of his opportunities, the irrepressible Fernandez brought off a succession of timely saves as well.
The game proved that even United's astute and acclaimed manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, can be guilty of a major boo-boo, replacing goalkeeper Luke Steele with Ben Forster shortly after he had made a sensational, 60th minute point-blank save from a Shaun Bartlett header following Arthur Zwane's defence-splitting cross from the right flank.
Perhaps Ferguson made the change in order to give both goalkeepers a run-out. Perhaps it was because he fancied Forster as the more accomplished of the two in the looming penalty shoot-out.
Whatever the reason, it back-fired badly, with Forster surprisingly taking United first kick in the penalty shoot-out and blasting the ball against the crossbar.
United came back into contention in the penalty drama when the third kick for Chiefs from Fabian McCarthy struck the post.
But with Fernandez swooping like an eagle to save substitute Chris Eagle's fifth penalty for United and then completing the job himself by guiding Chiefs' fifth penalty into the net, bedlam reigned as The Red Devils finally bit the dust.
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