Former Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Rowen Fernandez reflects on Amakhosi’s historic victory over the English Premier League side Manchester United in the 2006 Vodacom Challenge final.

The Glamour Boys began their Vodacom Challenge with a 1-0 defeat by the Red Devils followed by a 2-0 victory over Soweto rivals Orlando Pirates.

Amakhosi then met United in the final and went on to edge visiting English club 4-3 on penalties to win the Vodacom Challenge at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria in July 2006.

‘Beating Manchester United was awesome,’ Fernandez told Kaizer Chiefs’ official website.

‘Knowing the calibre of the opponents,’ he adds, ‘their legendary coach, Alex Ferguson, on the sideline and with players like Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes featuring, it was important to focus on our first objective, which was not to concede a goal.

‘Stopping the penalty was important,’ he looks back, ‘but to then go on to score the winning penalty was even better. For sure, I was nervous having to take the final kick, but I just picked my spot and hit the ball as hard as I could. The ball went in!

‘At the time, we felt so confident in our penalty taking abilities. I had saved at least two penalties in each of the shootouts we had taken part in previous competitions.

‘As a team, we were really a family. To beat a big team like Manchester United with my football family was something truly wonderful.’