Henrique Hilário

Henrique Hilário Meireles Alves Sampaio (born October 21, 1975 in São Pedro da Cova, Gondomar, Porto), simply Hilário, is a Portuguese footballer who currently plays for Premier League side Chelsea, as a goalkeeper.

Club career

Having joined Portuguese first division powerhouse FC Porto in 1996, Hilário found opportunities hard to come by and served several loan stints in the country. In three seasons (the first still on loan) with Madeira's Clube Desportivo Nacional, he developed as a topflight goalkeeper.

Hilário joined Chelsea FC on July 1, 2006 from Nacional, joining former Porto boss José Mourinho, the two having coincided there for a brief period, in the 2003–04 pre-season. He was originally signed as third-choice goalkeeper, as backup to Petr Čech and Carlo Cudicini,but was handed a run in the first team after both Čech and Cudicini sustained injuries in Chelsea's game against Reading on October 14, 2006.Hilário made his Chelsea debut four days later against FC Barcelona at Stamford Bridge, keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 win. He made his league on the 21st, against Portsmouth.

Hilário's run in the side saw him make a total of 18 appearances in 2006–07, even saving a penalty in the away game against Sheffield United. Čech's return to fitness in February 2007 saw him relegated to the substitute's bench again, and he was an unused replacement in Chelsea's League Cup final win over Arsenal.

In the start of 2007-08, Hilário found himself again third-choice to both Čech and Cudicini, but made a substitute appearance against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park, after the Czech suffered a hip injury. He then went on to start against Newcastle United and Fulham, as Chelsea won both contests 2-1. On April 8, 2008, he made a substitute appearance against Fenerbahce, due to injury to Cudicini, in the second leg of the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League, and kept a clean sheet. Portuguese newspapers subsequently hinted at a possible call-up to the Portuguese national side.

On January 26, 2009, Cudicini left Chelsea for Tottenham, leaving the Portuguese as second-choice, and promoting reserve keeper Rhys Taylor to a first-team promotion. On February 7, Hilário made his first 2008-09 start after an injury to Čech, against Hull City, and kept a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw.