Lucas: “I love to be here - I live the dream every day”
Fri 22 July 2022, 12:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
He’s (almost) 30 now, as he happily reminds us, but Lucas Moura shows no signs of slowing down as he knuckles down to work in his 13th pre-season as a professional.
It all started for the Brazilian forward back home in Sao Paulo in 2010, followed by five years at PSG in France and now four and a half years here at Spurs, where he carved his name forever in Club folklore with his hat-trick against Ajax to take us into the UEFA Champions League Final in 2019.
On top of the many magic moments - and there have been plenty, his goal against Norwich City at home last season another to add to his highlight reel - it’s Lucas’ sheer consistency for us over the last four seasons that needs to be commended.
Lucas featured in 45 of our 53 matches in all competitions last season, taking him to an impressive 191 appearances in our 221 matches across 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22, a sequence that also took him past the 200-game milestone for us in May.
Summer work started again for Lucas in early July and Antonio Conte and his coaching team are putting the team through their paces preparing for the big kick-off against Southampton at home in the Premier League on Saturday 6 August (3pm) - yes, 2022/23 is just a fortnight away...
“Times flies!” said Lucas, reflecting on all those pre-seasons. “My body feels very good. I’m 30, but the experience I have helps me to know my body well and the way I need to work.
“It’s tough, we run a lot, but no doubt it’s very important and it will help us a lot during the season. If you want to achieve something big, we need to suffer now, we need to run, we need to be ready to give the intensity the gaffer wants, and during pre-season is the time to do the work in this aspect. We are working very well, the commitment from everyone is amazing.
“The important thing is to enjoy every season, to enjoy football, I live a dream every day, every season, because I love to be here, I love our supporters, my team-mates, all the employees of the Club, so it’s always a pleasure to do what I do.”
Pre-season preparations now take us to Ibrox and a fascinating clash against Rangers. Europa League finalists last term, the Glasgow giants kick-off their 2022/23 campaign with a huge week - the SPL begins on 30 July, followed the first leg of their Champions League third round qualifier against Royale Union Saint-Gilloise of Belgium on 2 August. Their preparations continued with a 3-1 win against West Ham earlier this week.
We beat Team K League 6-3 (13 July) and drew 1-1 against Sevilla (16 July) in our first pre-season matches in the Coupang Play Series in Korea and now face the Gers for the Walter Tull Memorial Cup, awarded in memory of Britain’s first black outfield player who had links to both clubs before being struck down in battle during World War One.
“This is another big test for us, a big team,” added Lucas. “I know a little bit of the rivalry between England and Scotland, so it will be interesting!
“The most important thing is to be ready; it doesn’t matter if it’s a pre-season game, we need to go there and do our jobs, do our best and the best way to prepare for the season is to play to win the game and that’s what we’re going to do. I’m sure for Rangers it’s a good opportunity as well. They played in the Europa League Final so it’s a good game for us, an interesting game. Let’s do our best.”
