Henrique Hilário

Henrique Hilário Meireles Alves Sampaio, known simply as Hilário, (born October 21 1975 in São Pedro da Cova in Portugal) is a Portuguese footballer (soccer), who plays as a goalkeeper for English Premier League Chelsea F.C..

He joined Chelsea on July 1 2006 from the Portugal side CD Nacional, having previously played for FC Porto under current Chelsea manager José Mourinho in the 2003-2004 season.

Hilário was signed to be a third choice goalkeeper for Chelsea as back up 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 F.C. on October 14, 2006. Hilário made his Chelsea debut on October 18 2006 against FC Barcelona at Stamford Bridge (stadium), keeping a clean sheet in a 1-0 win, including saving Deco and Messi's shots. He made his Premier League debut three days later against Portsmouth F.C..

Hilário's run in the side saw him make a total of 18 appearances in the 2006-07 in English football season, even saving a penalty in the away game against Sheffield United. Čech's return to fitness in February saw him relegated to the substitute's bench again. He was an unused substitute in Chelsea's Football League Cup Final 2007 win over Arsenal F.C..

Chelsea manager José Mourinho, in the buildup to the FA Cup Final 2007, said that he might consider playing Hilário as a makeshift striker in the cup final in face of the injury crisis that hit his team. Mourinho was quoted as saying, "he [Hilário] isn't bad playing forward".