Benni McCarthy is unarguably South Africa's best ever football export and to date still the only Mzansi star to win the UEFA Champions League.
The former Bafana Bafana striker, who turns 37 today, was instrumental in guiding Porto to their only ever title in the competition by scoring five goals.
Read: Remember When Benni Made Mourinho
Despite having a lesser impact in the 3-0 final victory over Monaco, where he played 12 minutes, Benni was arguably one of the main reasons why Porto tasted European glory in the first place.
Without his crucial goals at earlier stages in the competition, things could have been very different. It started in the group stage, where he scored the solitary goal in a 1-0 win over Olympique Marseille, and two in a 2-1 victory over Partizan. Without those results, Porto might have struggled to reach the knockout stages.
Then came arguably the most crucial moment in the tournament, as well as one of the best moments of his career. In the quarter-final first leg, he single handedly defeated European giants Manchester United.
His two spectacular goals in the 2-1 home victory paved the way for Jose Mourinho's Porto to beat Sir Alex Ferguson's United 3-2 on aggregate.
Strangely, another South African, Quinto Fortune, had put United in front, but McCarthy's two goals turned the game in Porto's favour.
Benni also provided the important assist for Porto's last minute equalizer in the return leg at Old Trafford, which eliminated the Red Devils from the competition.
United had just claimed the English Premier League title the previous season and had greats such as Ruud van Nistelrooy, Paul Scholes and Roy Keane in their ranks.
With Olympique Lyon, Deportivo La Coruna and AS Monaco the other opponents on their way to European glory, United was unarguably the biggest stumbling stone on their way to the title and McCarthy's contribution was priceless in regards to getting over the line against them.
