“The history repeats!” wrote Western Sydney Wanderers keeper Tomas Mejias on social media the morning after a famous night in the history of Middlesbrough.
He was met with a sea of heartfelt messages from the Boro faithful. “Your legacy lives on!” Wrote one fan. “This club remains so special to so many ex players,” wrote another.
“Lightning can strike twice in the same place.”
As an English Championship side, venturing to Old Trafford to bundle Manchester United out of a domestic cup via a penalty shoot-out is no easy feat. But for Boro it’s a feat made all the more special by the fact that the Teesside club had done it once before: in October, 2015 with Mejias in between the sticks.
“It was an amazing night,” Mejias told KEEPUP. “I have great memories from this night, and it happened again!”
In 2015 Mejias played second fiddle at Middlesbrough to Dimitrios Konstantopoulos, but received an opportunity to show his wares in the starting XI in the last 16 of the League Cup, away to United at the Theatre of Dreams.
“When you’re out you can see the stadium’s atmosphere, how the fans (are),” he said. “But to be honest when the referee starts the game you forget about everything, you are focussed in your game and you don’t care how many people there are around you, and how many people are involved in that.
“You have to take the opportunity – sometimes you don’t know when it’s coming. But I was prepared, I was training hard every day to have this opportunity. In the cup was my opportunity and I took it, I was ready for that.
“Sometimes it’s not good to have this kind of match on the first step, but you have to be brave, take it, and train every day to have these chances.”
The devotion paid off for Mejias.
Playing 120 minutes without conceding a goal forced a penalty shoot-out. The takers for United: Wayne Rooney, Andreas Pereira, Michael Carrick, Ashley Young.
Mejias set the tone from the start, denying Rooney with a clutch save down to his right.
“(Saving Rooney’s penalty), it was unbelievable the sensation. You just have to feel it when you’re there,” he said.
“We couldn’t think much about that because we didn’t win the penalty shoot-out (then), and you know in a penalty shoot-out anything can happen until the last one is scored or the last one you save, you have to be focussed.
“This one was a really good celebration but until the last one it wasn’t like everything (was) done.”
Helping Boro’s cause was the selection of ends for the shoot-out at Old Trafford.
As Mejias stood on the goal line, over his left shoulder roared the Boro faithful, tucked away in the corner of the stands.
“That was very important,” he said. “When you looked behind you it looked like we were in Riverside Stadium because all the fans were behind the goal.”
A David Nugent miss undid Mejias initial good work, and Pereira brought United back level. Stewart Downing converted for Boro, before it all unravelled for the home side.
Carrick skied his penalty over the bar, Ben Gibson converted with aplomb, before Mejias became the hero by denying Young and booking his side a ticket to the quarter-finals.
“Yes, all my team-mates came to me,” he said. “It was a really good feeling, everyone was so happy. Also the fans, they were crazy. Really good memories about that, they are going to stay in my mind and in my head for the rest of my life.”
Fast-forward to 2022, and Mejias reminisces on the memories after training with his current Isuzu UTE A-League club Western Sydney.
Those memories came rushing back as Middlesbrough returned to Old Trafford in the early hours of February 5, this time for a fourth-round clash in the FA Cup, with a chance to progress to the final 32 of the famous competition on the line.
Boro fell behind, before drawing level at 1-1. A penalty shoot-out ensued – a familiar sight for the two sides at the venue – but once again, it was the Championship side who prevailed.
“I thought the story is going to repeat again,” he said. “Yes, to be honest they didn’t deserve to win because (Manchester United) had a lot of chances, but in the end they were working hard and they got the result at 1-1 and went to penalties.
“You know in penalties anything can happen, everything can happen. I couldn’t (watch the game), it was too early and we had a match, I was focussing on my match which is more important at the moment because I’m a player of (Western) Sydney Wanderers, it’s more important for me this team.
“But I heard about the result and watched the highlights. It was great; a great result for us, for Middlesbrough, so it’s really good.”
“Us” – a slip of the tongue from Mejias – showed just how important Middlesbrough remains in the heart of the Spaniard.
And it’s reflected in his fondness for the Boro faithful, who now get the opportunity to welcome Tottenham Hotspur to the Riverside Stadium in the next round of the FA Cup.
“The Boro fans are unbelievable, they follow them every day, every match,” Mejias said.
“I love them and they love me,” he said, grinning. “So I can’t say too much (more) about that.
“We had happy, great memories there – good moments, bad moments – but in the end we keep the good moments. This is (what’s most) important.
“I (think) they deserve everything good for them.”
Mejias added: “The atmosphere (against Tottenham) is going to be unbelievable, 100%, I have (no) doubts about that because the fans are always there and are going to try to push. You know the game and it’s going to be a great (moment) for them.”
