The 2016 Capital One Cup Final probably yielded little that will remain long in the memory of the neutral supporter. However, the match-winning performance of Manchester City’s erstwhile second-choice goalkeeper, Willy Caballero, was surely the exception as the unheralded Argentine brushed off widespread pre-match disdain with a hat-trick of remarkable penalty saves.
However, Caballero’s moment in the sun was remarkable not only for its inherent quality but also for dispelling much of our collective prejudice about goalkeeping as a whole and supposed second-string stoppers in particular. Manuel Pellegrini’s selection of Caballero, in preference to his established number one Joe Hart, was widely condemned before the match, on the basis that Caballero, despite being both a double-winner and an Olympic champion in his homeland, is generally accepted as being marginally the inferior player of the two.