Gomes shares credit for Spurs scalp

Heurelho Gomes insisted he was "not the hero" after his penalty shoot-out save against Tottenham Hotspur FC sent PSV Eindhoven into the UEFA Cup quarter-finals.

Sudden death
The Brazilian goalkeeper kept out a Jermaine Jenas penalty to deny Tottenham victory after PSV striker Danko Lazović had seen an earlier effort saved by Paul Robinson. And when Pascal Chimbonda missed the target in sudden death to give the Dutch champions a 6-5 shoot-out success, with Tottenham having earlier brought the aggregate scores level with a 1-0 win in Eindhoven, Gomes took the plaudits.

Credit shared
However, the 27-year-old goalkeeper, who has been something of an icon for PSV fans since joining from Cruzeiro EC in 2004, was quick to deflect the attention, saying: "Penalties are no lottery. It's a matter of concentration and having faith in a good result. I try to wait until the final moment and wait on the player's decision before I react. But I am not the hero. No, the whole team are heroes. We did this together and I am glad we made it into the next round."

Unfair advantage
Team-mate Timmy Simons said that Gomes's ability from spot-kicks had taken the element of chance out of shoot-outs: "Normally penalties are some kind of lottery, but with Gomes in goal that is not the case." It was a dramatic end to a match which had everything according to PSV coach Sef Vergoossen. "People have really been given value for money," he joked. "I would rather that they hadn't." He also saluted Gomes for a brilliant save from Steed Malbranque late in normal time, adding: "Gomes is always there when you need him most and now he has got us through to the next stage."

Brave losers
While PSV can continue to dream of a second UEFA Cup, following their success in 1978, the dream is over for two-time winners Tottenham, and coach Juande Ramos who won the trophy with Sevilla FC in 2006 and 2007. Unfazed, the Spaniard said: "We can have no regrets because we wanted to win the match on the night and we did that. It came down to penalties and if [Jenas] had scored, we'd have gone through. It's heads or tails. Every player who takes a penalty is courageous, so I can only congratulate those players for their courage."