ESPN Brasil this week features a chat they had with goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, who used to play for Tottenham Hotspur and Watford in the Premier League.
The 39-year-old was asked a few questions about the toughest opponents he had faced in England, and it turns out that for each one of his answers, he picked a Chelsea player.
The first question was about the best strikers he played against, and he named Blues legend Didier Drogba.
“Didier Drogba. That was hard. This was complicated. And look, I faced Cristiano Ronaldo. If I speak, I will talk about ten attackers. But I will put three. Cristiano Ronaldo, Henry and Drogba,” Gomes told ESPN Brasil.
“He was always very nice. And he speaks in Portuguese: ‘I’m going to score a goal on you today’. And I’d tell him to try. There was a time that I saved a penalty from him in the game. I went to have dinner and met him at the same restaurant. I ended up playing with him and he was very nice.”
On the most annoying strikers he faced, he picked two more Chelsea centre-forwards, this time from the time he was playing for Watford.
“I never had a problem with anyone, but a guy who’d always give us trouble, especially on the penalty spot, was Giroud. I don’t know if it was because he wanted to or not, but he stepped on people’s feet.
“Diego Costa was not far behind (laughs). On the pitch he was transformed, but after the game he was a blessing. I already said to him: ‘Gee, Diego! Calm down, man’.”
Gomes joined Tottenham Hotspur in a €1m move from Cruzeiro back in 2014. He spent ten years at the club, and left White Hart Lane after 135 appearances. Then he moved straight to Watford, for whom he played 160 games.
In those other quotes, Gomes confirmed that he’s retiring following the end of his contract with Watford.
