Heurelho Gomes

Heurelho Gomes
Personal information
Full name	Heurelho da Silva Gomes
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	PSV
Number	1
	‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 March 2007

Heurelho da Silva Gomes (born February 15 1981 in João Pinheiro, Minas Gerais) is a Brazilian footballer, who currently plays for PSV Eindhoven.

Club career

He started his career at Cruzeiro until moving to PSV Eindhoven in July 2004, where he made his debut against FK Crvena Zvezda on August 11 of that year.

At first, there were critics, saying that Brazilians 'should be on the field, not in the goal'. In other words, there were doubts if Gomes was reliable enough. Those doubts were quickly erased. Even though he conceded two goals in his debut against RBC Roosendaal, which PSV won 5-2, he proved himself to be a reliable goalkeeper. Gomes established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. He played a major part in PSV's three latest consecutive titles in the Eredivisie and in the great European achivements. In his first season, PSV immediatly reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, where in the 14 attempts before, PSV wasn't able to reach the second round. In the following seasons, PSV progressed each time from the group stage.

In the Eredivisie, Gomes is known for his outstanding reflexes, which has saved points from PSV more than one time. Also his trademark throwing ability is well known. Gomes is able to throw the ball all the way deep into the opponents half. Also before the start of the match and second half, Gomes jumps up above the goal with his shoulders, pumping up the PSV-supporters.

Gomes is a crowd favorite at PSV. He can speak Portuguese and Spanish, but has learned to speak quite a few words of Dutch. Most Dutch-football fans can't understand why he isn't in the starting eleven of Brasil. Even though the rivalry between PSV, Feyenoord and Ajax is intense, fans from rival clubs showed sympathy for the Brasilian. Most notably is his excessive cheering when his teammates score. In the match in Rotterdam against Feyenoord, Gomes injured himself after overcheering when his teammate Phillip Cocu scored the 1-0. Gomes was able to play further and even saved a point with a wonderful dive, which most goalies would find unstopable.

Notable achievements

Gomes has achieved a lot since his stay at PSV. He held a clean sheet in 60 percent of his Eredivisie-matches. No other goalie has ever achieved that. In his first season, Gomes didn't concede a goal in 971 minutes. In the same season, Gomes had an another goalless streak. This time he didn't concede a goal in 817 minutes. In his third season, 2006-2007, he had again a notable streak. Gomes didn't concede in 956 minutes, which eventually played a huge part in PSV's suprise championship title. PSV won the Eredivisie 2006-07 title, after having the same amount of points as Ajax, but PSV finished first due to a better goal difference (+50, against +49 for Ajax). Even though those were very impressive stints, it wasn't enough to break the record of Heinz Stuy, who set the record in 1971 with 1082 minutes. Gomes did set a record, though. In the current season, 2007-08, Gomes kept a clean sheet in his first 5 games.

Critics on PSV-board and president

Gomes has stated in several media that he wouldn't mind to stay at PSV until the end of his career. However, in December 2007, Gomes stated in the Dutch magazine Voetbal International that he has lost trust in PSV. He also gave critics about the current actions with the trainers. Ronald Koeman, who he calls the biggest disaster created by the board of directors, went to Valencia, he was replaced by Jan Wouters, who will step aside in January when Sef Vergoosen comes in, who will be replaced by Huub Stevens in the summer of 2008. Also, Gomes gives a lot of critic about the way Koeman was treating youngster Ismaïl Aissati, saying that Koeman was too hard for the young midfielder and that he didn't get the trust that he needs. The conflict started when Gomes could have signed a contract until 2011, but the offer was withdrawed when the Brasilian was about to sign. 'I miss the kindness that there was under Guus Hiddink. At first, PSV was like my home. My future was all set out, stay here until 2011, and then leave with my family to Brasil. Until my offer was withdrawed, saying that they needed a meeting to consider whether they should give me an offer or not. I don't get the feeling that PSV would really want me to stay here. I heard the club president say that any club who pays the right price can take me away. I didn't want to go, so i was really hurt that the president was so easily when it was about keeping me here or selling me. In this state, i won't extend my contract and i will probably leave when my contract ends. Or something drastic has to be changed here. I'm not saying this because i think that i'm running things here. I'm saying this because i see it as a my responsibility to give PSV a wake up-call.'

On December 11 2007 he stated that "the right feeling slowly was coming back" and that the chances for an contract untill 2013 were 90 percent, 2 days later on 13 December PSV Eindhoven announced that Gomes had re-signed a contract till the summer of 2013.

International career

Gomes made his first debut for Brazil in 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Despite the competition is for senior national team, Brazil choose to send an Under-23 squad to the competition. Gomes makes 5 appearances as Brazil went to the final and finished second after beaten by Mexico 1-0.

Despite being part of the Brazilian squad that won the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, as the third-choice keeper behind Dida and Marcos, Gomes did not receive any playing time. He was also excluded from now-former coach Carlos Alberto Parreira's final 23-man roster for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

It wasn't until his inclusion on the team for a series of late-summer friendlies, as a consequence of new Brazil coach Dunga's desire to play many of the Seleção's younger stars, that Gomes has finally gained some consistent playing time in goal. On August 14 2006, he was called up for a friendly against Norway, which ended in a 1-1 draw. On September 3, 2006, he played in Brazil's 3-0 defeat of rivals Argentina at Emirates Stadium in England. Two days later, Gomes kept a second consecutive clean sheet in a 2-0 victory over Wales at White Hart Lane. His latest stint between the sticks was during a 2-1 win over Ecuador on October 10, 2006.

Career Stats

Season	Club	Country	Competition	Matches
2002	Cruzeiro	Brazil	Campeonato Brasileiro	14
2003	Cruzeiro	Brazil	Campeonato Brasileiro	40
2004	Cruzeiro	Brazil	Campeonato Brasileiro	5
2004/2005	PSV	Netherlands	Eredivisie	30
2005/2006	PSV	Netherlands	Eredivisie	32
2006/2007	PSV	Netherlands	Eredivisie	32
2007/2008	PSV	Netherlands	Eredivisie	21*
			Total	174

Including matches in the national trophy (KNVB-Beker) and Champions League matches.

External links

Gomes1.com - Official site - news and pictures
Praise to Heurelho Gomes - Quotes, statistics and pictures
PSV: Alex and Gomes see off Wales - noticias.info, 9/5/2006
Gomes photos and more from PSV by Tvw