Emotional Lucas Moura: “I will be Spurs forever...”
Thu 18 May 2023, 19:07|
Tottenham Hotspur
Tears were shed that night in Amsterdam and now they are again – albeit for a different reason – as Lucas Moura gets set to bid farewell to the Club he’s called home for the last five-and-a-half years.
A January, 2018, arrival from Paris Saint-Germain, the forward etched his name into Club folklore as his sensational second-half hat-trick – including a stoppage-time winner – saw us defeat Ajax and book our place in the 2019 Champions League Final in what represents one of the most significant, memorable moments in our history.
Of course, there’s been more to his Spurs career – a crucial late equaliser away to Barcelona to send us into the knockout rounds of the Champions League earlier that season, a Premier League hat-trick against Huddersfield Town and a sparkling brace in a 3-0 win at Manchester United immediately come to mind – but as the 30-year-old reflected on his time with us, there was only one place to start.
“That game against Ajax of course is the best moment in my career so far. For me, it seems like it was yesterday. Time flies. It was unbelievable – three goals, a semi-final, the last goal in the last seconds with my left foot… I don’t know how to explain this. In football we play for this kind of moment and I will keep this in my heart for my whole life,” he said through tearful eyes.
“It’s an emotional time. It’s difficult to speak because I have been here for a long time and I have enjoyed this adventure a lot, a lot of good moments, a lot of friends. I’m sure I’m blessed because to be here at Spurs, have good friends and have this experience to play at our stadium, it’s a beautiful one, so I’m very, very grateful to God. I will miss it.”
Unfortunately, Lucas’ two most recent appearances for us didn’t exactly go to plan, a sending-off against Everton followed by a momentary lapse that allowed Liverpool to steal a late winner a few weeks ago, but he trusts that those two disappointing outings won’t define his overall Spurs career.
“This was not my best season because I had a few problems with injury and I couldn’t help the team as I wanted,” he admitted. “The last two games that I played of course were difficult. I was so excited to play again and to help the team, and I was so eager to show this, to play with a lot of desire that I got a red card against Everton. The feeling was very, very bad. Terrible. Then against Liverpool I made a mistake... I didn’t want to clear the ball, I wanted to make a pass but it was a bad decision and it was very difficult again. In football and in life, we have good and bad moments – the most important thing is to be strong mentally. We have two games left and it’s what I want – to have a few minutes to taste again the feeling of playing for Spurs. I will do my best. Let’s see...”
Finally, a heartfelt message from Lucas, directly to our fans...
“I don’t want to think about my last day here, but the feeling is that I gave everything,” he said. “If I have just one word to talk about it, it’s ‘special’. Five years with you, I don’t have words to thank you for the support, for the affection… I just need to say thank you. I will keep you in my heart forever. I love Spurs, it was a great adventure to play for you and you can be sure that every time that I was on the pitch I tried to make you happy. I tried my best, I gave 100 per cent every time to show to you my passion, how I love Spurs, how I love to play football and it was amazing to play for you. Thank you. I will keep supporting you. I will be Spurs forever...”
Look out for a special feature-length interview with Lucas in our final home matchday programme of the season against Brentford on Saturday - available around the stadium or online here.
