But try beating the South American from 12 yards and it is a high profile list of opponents who have found themselves in a spot of bother.

Riyad Mahrez became the latest victim of the Chilean international’s penalty-saving prowess in the Carabo Cup on Tuesday night, yet the Leicester midfielder can at least console himself that he is in very good company.

The great Lionel Messi is among those who have failed in their attempts to beat the 34-year-old ‘mano a mano’ in an illustrious group which also includes Cesc Fabregas, Luis Suarez, Robin van Persie and Ronaldinho.

“When it comes to penalty shoot-outs, it’s my turn to help the team,” said Bravo as the City juggernaut kept up its four-pronged assault for silverware by progressing to the semi-finals of this Cup after holding its nerve at the King Power Stadium.

He added: “I don’t think that saving penalties is down to chance, it’s down to hard work. I always feel confident and like a winner when it comes to them.”

Mahrez discovered that to his cost when his effort struck the goalkeeper, after Jamie Vardy had shot wide in the late-night lottery. 

It was the second consecutive round where City had needed Bravo to be at his brilliant best in a shoot-out. His two saves helped to eliminate Wolves to add to a growing reputation which Argentina ace Messi had already seen at first hand when coming second best in the mind games such high-pressure situations inevitably involve to balloon his spot-kick over en route to Chile lifting the Copa America in 2016. 

Bravo said: “We’ve had to suffer in the last two rounds and as a team penalties is not the kind of situation you love. Hopefully in the next stage we won’t need them.”

It did not stop Pep Guardiola from seeing the funny side when a supporter invaded the pitch during the game in an effort to confront the City manager, only to unceremoniously fall over before being led away by stewards.

“He wanted my shirt but it was a bit slippy,” the Spaniard quipped. “Next time he has to change his shoes.” 

Bravo’s penalty-stopping powers were underlined when he expertly kept out all three he faced as Chile overcame Portugal in the semi-final of this summer’s Confederation Cup.

Amid the accolades, it was also rather cruelly pointed out his efforts in the shoot-out matched his saves output in the previous 529 minutes of Premier League football, where 11 on-target shots had seen him concede eight goals.

Add in some embarrassing episodes of less than nifty footwork from a player signed from Barcelona for £15.4m in August last year with the express task of providing the kind of dazzling distributing Joe Hart clearly could not, and his 16 months in this country have often been testing.

Bravo lost his starting role earlier in the year, and his chances of regaining the number one tag appear slim given the consistent form shown by new first choice Ederson since his £35m arrival from Benfica. Bravo has featured as many times for his country as his club this season, with only one top flight appearance since April.

It has seen him linked with following Hart out of the exit door, but for the time being at least he is happy to bide his time.

As a family man, Chile’s joint most-capped player is happy with his work-life balance in the North-West, providing dazzling denouements to City’s floodlit cup exploits.

“There has been stuff about me going to River Plate or I don’t know where and about me returning to South America, but there’s a long way to go for that to happen, I have a very clear picture,” said Bravo.

“Life is not only about football, it’s about a lot more than that. I have my family to consider, we are living in Manchester and we’re thrilled the kids are learning the language to perfection.

“It’s about being calm, working hard and doing my job when I’m called upon. I’m patient, and at my age, I’m not going to go crazy.”