Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes has given a 20-minute interview to Brazilian journalist Jaeci Carvalho this week.
The player received the reporter at the Hornets’ training ground, and had a chat which went a bit out of the norm, walking through the pitches, out of the boring press rooms.
The interview had topics about Gomes’ entire career, since his start at Cruzeiro, and his time at PSV, Tottenham, Hoffeinheim and finally Watford.
The goalkeeper spoke about the improvement at the Hornets since the time he decided to join them in the Championship, as they are now a club with much bigger aspirations in the Premier League.
Now the most surprising quotes in the interview are about his future. Jaeci Carvalho had mentioned a few times that Gomes will stop playing in two years, as he’s already said it before, but the 37-year-old has now claimed he may be retiring before that.
“I don’t know. My contract here with Watford ends in the middle of next year. We did not talk about renewal. But in my head, it’s already the last year. It’s not two years, no,” Gomes told Carvalho.
On the reasons to stop at the end of the season, he said: “Because I want to. I want to live with my family, I want to live a little longer for God, I think I’ll serve him in some area.”
Then Gomes was asked if he could be a pastor.
“That too. I think this is a path, you know? God has prepared some things, he has put some things in my way.”
The goalkeeper has revealed that a chat with his former Cruzeiro teammate Alex has given him an idea of when to stop.
“One thing I asked Alex: ‘Alex, what made you stop?’ He said: ‘The motivation to go and train’. The day you wake up like that once, talk like, ‘oh, today…’ which is normal, in any job. But if it’s another day too, another day too… over the whole week too, so it’s time to stop. And that’s it. So when I come, I told the goalkeeping coach the other day, the goalkeeper coach said ‘you play three or four more years easily’.
“I told him: ‘if I’m to come here just to get the money, no’. I want to give my best always. I want to be useful. I want to do the best for the team. In training here I want to be the best always. So we have to be feeling this way. When you come and you cannot give the best, for me it’s not enough. So we move on.”
Gomes joined Watford in 2014 on a free move from Tottenham Hotspur, and has made over 150 appearances for the Hornets. However, he hasn’t been much used this season, and only played two cup games.
