Allien Whittaker saved two penalties and scored one of his own for Jamaica to beat China 5-4 in the penalty shoot-out and win the Lunar New Year Cup. - File

WITH TWO vital stops and a well-taken penalty which eventually saw Jamaica's Reggae Boyz hoist the Lunar New Year Cup at the Hong Kong Stadium on Wednesday, shot stopper Allien Whittaker is the Gleaner's Performer of the Week.

The Jamaicans came away with their heads held high after defeating China 5-4 on penalties after a 0-0 draw in regular time to lift their first bit of silverware outside of the region. However, a big part of the win was due to a big-time performance by the Jamaica Defence Force's Whittaker.

Early deficit

Seeing the Boyz facing an early deficit after they missed their first penalty, the 'keeper showed what it meant to rise to the occasion, diving full stretch to stop China from going 4-2 ahead. The army man then showed nerves of steel to immediately step out of goal and blast past his shot China custodian Zhang Lu.

Whittaker, now 23, capped off the performance with another sensational save to keep the shoot-out level at 4-4.

This paved the way for Donovan Davis's match-winning penalty.

Whittaker, who was voted the best goalkeeper of the tournament when he represented Jamaica in the 2001 FIFA Under-20 World Youth Cup in Argentina, was making his debut at the senior level after a five-year wait.

- K.M.