Road to Athens : Pepe Reina

José Manuel Reina Páez (born 31 August 1982 in Madrid, Spain), is commonly known as Pepe Reina (his preferred nickname), or José Reina.

Reina helped Villareal to secure a UEFA Champions League position at the end of the 2004–05 season, saving seven out of nine spot kicks. He was signed by Liverpool from Villarreal in July 2005, with manager Rafael Benítez hailing him as "the best goalkeeper in Spain".

On 16 April 2006 Reina celebrated his 50th appearance for Liverpool by keeping a clean sheet against Blackburn Rovers F.C.. As a result he holds a Liverpool record for the fewest number of goals conceded by a 'keeper in their first fifty games.

In May 2006 Reina was awarded the Premier League's Golden Gloves award for keeping 20 clean sheets in the 2005-06 seasons. His performances put him ahead of Manchester United F.C.'s Dutch keeper Edwin van der Sar and the previous year's winner Petr Čech of Chelsea.

Reina was both a villain and a hero as Liverpool defeated West Ham United F.C.. During the normal time Reina made a number of errors to allow the Hammers to lead 3-2. Steven Gerrard saved Reina's blushes with a late equaliser, and then Reina made a crucial save in extra-time. The match ended 3-3 and went to penalties, where Reina lived up to his penalty saving reputation as he saved three out of four penalties. Liverpool won the cup and Reina was a hero again.

Reina so far has the highest clean sheet record this season and was a helping hand in Liverpool's champions league run. He repeated this feat in the 2007 Champions League semi-final second leg, again versus Chelsea keeping a clean sheet during the match, making a series of fine saves and then making two magnificent saves again in the penalty shoot-out to deny Chelsea, 4-1.










He denied Arjun Robbern penalty.

He save Geremi penalty.

This man who bring Liverpool to final Champions League. As a result i conclude Reina as "Legend Penalty Saver"...lets pray we repeat Istanbul glory again.