Fernando Llorente: "Keep fighting, always believe"
There was a moment, off camera, that said everything about Fernando Llorente’s state of mind after his crucial late winner against Watford on Wednesday night.
With a number of post-match interviews already in the bag, the Spanish striker stood for a moment in front of the Spurs TV camera.
“How do you feel?” he was asked, before the camera started rolling. Leaning back, taking a deep breath, a broad smile across his face, he just replied: “Wow. Unbelievable.”
Minutes earlier, Fernando produced a textbook far post header from Danny Rose’s cross to complete our comeback from 1-0 down to win 2-1 and take three valuable points in the Premier League. It was another show of defiance, 1-0 down with 10 minutes to go, goals from Heung-Min Son (81) and finally Fernando (87) wrestled those points back from Watford.
It was just what everyone needed. Two cup defeats last week hit hard, but results had gone our way in the Premier League on Tuesday and Wednesday night and Fernando made sure we grasped the opportunity to consolidate our third place.
Fernando raced away in sheer delight after his header hit the net and ended up in the arms of Mauricio Pochettino on the halfway line. A World Cup winner with Spain, he’s now scored 171 goals in his club career – it was suggested few meant as much as that one.
“Yes, because this is a very important moment in the season for us,” said Fernando. “It’s a massive result, a massive win. At that moment, it was very special – and after all that running, I was really tired! We ran a lot, we were aggressive, we played well.”
There was no doubt a bit of relief for Fernando as well having missed a big chance on 51 minutes but he picked himself up and was there when it mattered.
“It was difficult because I had a big chance, normally, in 10 chances (like that) I’d score nine but sometimes the ball doesn’t want to go in,” he said.
“In that moment, you have to forget that chance, keep fighting, believe, always believe in the team, believe we can win and in the last minute I had an amazing chance and this time, I scored.
“This goal is very important for me. It gives me confidence to keep fighting, to keep running, to be stronger every game.”
As for the game, Fernando touched on the team’s mentality – a mentality that has led to late winners in matches against the likes of PSV, Inter, Burnley and Fulham in the last couple of months.
“We suffered a lot,” he added. “Watford created a lot of problems for us with their goal from the corner. We were strong, strong mentally, because after the two defeats in the cups this wasn’t easy.
"We played well in the second half. We were 1-0 down but I think we’re a very strong team because we played really well in a difficult situation. I’m really happy to help the team.”