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Guillermo Ochoa saves Robert Lewandowski's penalty, he is the World Cup king

Guillermo Ochoa saves Robert Lewandowski's penalty, he is the World Cup king

We go four years not hearing from Guillermo Ochoa but the Mexico goalkeeper always turns up at the World Cup, you can't not love him.

World Cup cult hero Guillermo Ochoa added to his legendary status, as he saved Robert Lewandowski in Poland's game with Mexico.

Some players take to the biggest stage in football in the best possible way and there is no doubt that Mexico goalkeeper Ochoa epitomises that.

There aren't too many mentions of the America keeper in the four years between each World Cup but, cometh the tournament, cometh the man.

On Tuesday evening it was no different, as the 37-year-old started the game against Poland, in both teams opening game of Group C.

It was a relatively quiet first half but the game came to life in the 55th minute, when Barcelona forward Lewandowski tussled with Hector Moreno in the box.

After VAR's intervention, the referee pointed to the spot, giving the Polish striker the chance to score his first World Cup goal, but Ochoa was there to stop him, diving low to his left.

It looked a pretty harsh decision from the officials to award the spot kick in the first place, with Lewandowski and Moreno both all over each other.

Play initially looked like it would continue, with the on field referee not giving it, however the video assistant referee felt it needed to be looked at.

Usually when a ref goes over to the screen it means the decision will be overturned but earlier in the day, during Denmark's draw with Tunisia, that wasn't the case.

However, things returned to normal, as it was decided the shirt pull on Lewandowski was enough to earn Poland their best chance to score.

Having gone goalless in the 2018 tournament, it was the former Bayern Munich man's perfect chance to end his dry spell in the tournament, but it wasn't to be.

Instead it was Ochoa's chance to shine again, having previously featured in the 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 tournaments for his country.

At 37-years-old he is surely coming towards the end of his career, however, he'll surely be aiming to make one more World Cup tournament.

Though we're very early into this one, no one would criticise the former Standard Liege number one for having his eyes on 2026, when Mexico will host the tournament alongside USA and Canada.

With this one being played in the winter there's only three and a half years for Ochoa to wait, we hope he's in the squad!

Featured Image Credit: Alamy/BBC Sport

Topics: Football World Cup, Poland, Robert Lewandowski