Henrique Hilário Alves Meireles Sampaio, commonly known as Hilário, is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and a goalkeeping coach at Premier League clubChelsea. He spent most of his extensive professional career with Porto and Chelsea, mainly as a backup. He appeared in 160 Primeira Liga matches, over nine seasons.
Hilário was born in São Pedro da Cova, Porto District. After emerging through FC Porto's youth system, he left and began playing professionally with lowly Associação Naval 1º de Maio and Académica de Coimbra – respectively in the third and second divisions. Hilário returned to Porto for the 1996–97 season, after Vítor Baía's departure to FC Barcelona, appearing in 18 games as the club won the Primeira Liga championship for the third straight time. He soon would be deemed surplus to requirements however, being loaned four times during his spell while also being demoted to the reserves. Released by Porto in summer 2004, Hilário signed with Madeira's Nacional on a permanent basis, playing 29 matches in his first season but losing his importance after the arrival of Swiss Diego Benaglio.
Chelsea
Hilário signed with Chelsea on 1 June 2006, joining former Porto boss José Mourinho, the two having coincided there for a brief period in the 2003–04 pre-season. He was originally signed as third-choice behind Petr Čech and Carlo Cudicini, but was handed a run in the first team after they both sustained injuries in a game against Reading on 14 October 2006. He made his competitive debut on 18 October against Barcelona at Stamford Bridge, keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 win; his Premier League debut came three days later, in a 2–1 home success over Portsmouth. Hilário's run in the side saw him make a total of 18 appearances during the season, not conceding any goals in eight of those – he also saved a penalty in a game away to Sheffield United. Čech's return to fitness in February 2007 saw the former back on the substitutes bench, and he was an unused replacement in the League Cup final win over Arsenal. At the start of the 2007–08 campaign, Hilário found himself again third-choice to both Čech and Cudicini, but made a substitute appearance against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park after the Czech suffered a hip injury. He went on to start against Newcastle United and Fulham as his team won both matches 2–1. On 8 April 2008 he came from the bench against Fenerbahce SK in the second leg of the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League. Cudicini left for Tottenham Hotspur on 26 January 2009, leaving Hilário as second-choice and promoting Rhys Taylor to the first team. On 7 February he made his first 2008–09 start after an injury to Čech, a 0–0 home draw to Hull City; he was also an unused substitute during Chelsea's 2009 FA Cup Final win over Everton. On 26 September 2009, when Čech was red carded against Wigan Athletic after a tackle on Hugo Rodallega, Hilário came on for Florent Malouda and let in two goals – one of which a penalty – in a 1–3 away loss. Due to Čech's suspension he was in the starting line-up for the game against Liverpool at home on 4 October, and performed well, keeping a clean sheet. Hilário made his first appearance in 2010 after coming off the bench for an injured Čech, in the second half of Chelsea's 1–2 loss at Inter Milan in the first leg of the Champions League round-of-16, conceding no goals in about 30 minutes. He made another appearance in the Premier League, this time against Manchester City, and allowing braces from Craig Bellamy and Carlos Tevez in their first home defeat of the season, although the Blues eventually won the championship. On 13 June 2011, 35-year-old Hilário signed a new one-year deal. Following the appointment of countryman André Villas-Boas as manager and the knee injury suffered by Čech late into the pre-season, he was propelled to the starting lineup over Ross Turnbull, appearing in two games and conceding twice in as many home wins. Hilário was due to be released at the end of the 2012–13 campaign as his contract expired, along with four other players. On 1 August, however, following the return of countryman Mourinho to the bench, he agreed to a new one-year link with the club. On 23 May 2014, Hilário was included in the list of players to be released from Chelsea. and he retired in August at the age of 38 years and months. He returned on 22 July 2016, being appointed assistant goalkeeping coach by the new manager Antonio Conte. In July 2019, newly appointed Frank Lampard confirmed Hilário would be retained in the coaching staff.
