Gustavo Gómez honoured by Palmeiras: ‘I owe a moral debt’ | OneFootball

A champion is not just someone who lifts trophies. A champion is someone who gets back up after a defeat. A champion is someone who never gives up. A champion is someone who, day after day, tries to improve in order to become a better person.

We are working toward that. We already won the Paulista, which is a very difficult competition, with many Série A teams. We managed to win that title and now we are leaders of the Brasileirão. We have a tough game on Saturday to keep that lead. In the Libertadores, God willing, we are close to securing qualification. In recent years, we have managed to maintain consistency, and that’s it: in our day-to-day work, we work very hard. The fans can be sure that we work with humility and great professionalism.

There have been many matches, it’s hard to choose just one. I really enjoyed the Club World Cup in the United States, but I’ll go with the final of the last Campeonato Paulista, where we won the title. Many teammates won their first titles there. I really enjoyed that moment. I was very happy that they won their first title as professionals and at the club. So I’ll go with that game.

When you lose, you can’t keep looking at social media. I didn’t see anything. What I like most in Brazil and in my country is freedom of expression, everyone can speak. But internally we know that football is emotional, not very rational. That is the reality. We know everything we work on every day, what we need to improve and maintain. Inside the club we work very hard to improve in the details. Every day we work, prepare for each game, and always try to do our best. No team in the world wins every game. PSG, with Messi, Neymar, and Mbappé, didn’t win everything. So I have nothing to say about that. We know football is emotional, but it also needs to be rational.

In eight years, I have never experienced a schedule like this, largely because of the World Cup context. I think a lot about the day to day. Of course there is anxiety. Sometimes I lie down and keep thinking about the first game, thinking about the match. But the most important thing is to stay balanced. When you play for Palmeiras, there is no way to think about tomorrow. You need to focus on the present and keep your head fully here.

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