Nuno Gomes

Nuno Gomes
Personal information
Full name	Nuno Miguel Soares Pereira Ribeiro
Date of birth	July 5, 1976 (1976-07-05) (age 33)
Place of birth	Amarante, Portugal
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Benfica
Number	21
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1994-1997 1997-2000 2000-2002 2002-Present	Boavista Benfica Fiorentina Benfica	79 (31) 101 (60) 53 (14) 152 (53)
National team2
1996-	Portugal	74 (29)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of August 25 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of September 15 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Nuno Miguel Soares Pereira Ribeiro, born on 5th July, 1976 in Amarante. He is a captain and striker who plays for the Portugal national football team and currently plays for S.L. Benfica. He was given the nickname Gomes during childhood, after Fernando Gomes, who was the top European goalscorer in 1983 and 1985. A striker who works tirelessly for his team-mates, Nuno Gomes's star shone bright at UEFA Euro 2000. He also took part in the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers, proving himself crucial after Pauleta retired. He scored against Finland in Portugal's first qualifier. Nuno Gomes was also on the cover of the game FIFA 2003 in Portugal.

Career

Nuno Gomes, was born in Amarante, in north-west Portugal and he first established his reputation with Boavista FC, where he made his debut in the 1994/95 season. Nuno Gomes collected his first silverware as Boavista beat SL Benfica to lift the Portuguese Cup in 1997. He was on target in the final and scored 15 league goals that term - enough to earn a transfer to Benfica. In 2000, after three seasons at the Estádio da Luz, during which he scored 60 league goals in 101 appearances, Euro 2000 exploits earned him a €17m move to ACF Fiorentina. He won the Coppa Italia in his first season, before Fiorentina's financial collapse precipitated his return to SL Benfica. 2003-2004: A series of nagging injuries limited Nuno Gomes to 21 matches, of which he completed just 14. However, he grew in strength and confidence as the season progressed and was an impressive performer in the Portuguese Cup final victory against FC Porto.2004-2005: After resolving his injury problems, he scored 7 important goals for Benfica to help the Águias (eagles) win the Portuguese SuperLiga. 2005-2006: He enjoyed his best season after returning to his home country. He scored 15 goals in the league (snatching second place in the SuperLiga's goalscorer list) and won the Portuguese SuperCup for Benfica with a superb strike.2006-2007: Nuno Gomes faced tough competition for a starting place in Benfica's attack, in the likes of newly-signed Mexican Francisco Fonseca, Fabrizio Miccoli, and injury-prone Pedro Mantorras. He scored 6 goals in the Portuguese Liga, 3 goals in Portuguese Cup, 3 in the UEFA Champions League and 1 in UEFA Cup. The 2007-2008 season proved to Portugal that he was still a valuable player on the team, he scored six league goals, including two in a 6-1 rout of former team Boavista. He also was made captain of Benfica above Rui Costa. Following Portugal's elimination from the euro Nuno Gomes had the opportunity to join the Major League Soccer team Toronto FC. Gomes rejected.

In the first game of the Portuguese 08/09 League, Nuno Gomes scored a goal against Rio Ave at the Estadio do Rio Ave. The match ended 1-1.^[1] At Uefa Cup, In the match against Napoli, he scored a nice goal to help the team reach the group stage.

Recently, speculation has arisen that Gomes may be joining Toronto FC of MLS for the 2009 season as the Canadian club's first "Designated Player". There has been no official word on this possibility.

National team

Having represented Portugal at every level from Under-15 upwards, and scoring many goals for Portugal youth teams, he made his full international debut aged 19 in a 1996 friendly against France. He scored for his country at that summer's Atlanta Olympics but had to wait four years for his first senior international goal. The timing couldn't have been better: in Portugal's opening match at Euro 2000 he marked his fourth start with the winner as Portugal came from two goals down to beat England in a 3-2 victory. He scored four goals in the competition as Portugal reached the last four but earned a seven-month international ban after pushing referee Günter Benkö following the semi-final defeat by France. He struggled to hold down a starting place and appeared twice as a substitute during the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Things

Portuguese fans during Euro 2004

went better for him in Euro 2004 when, after coming on as a half time substitute, he scored the winning goal against Spain to send Portugal through to the second round. He was also called up for the FIFA World cup 2006 in Germany, where he scored a goal in the third-place play-off match against Germany. He has scored 29 goals in 72 caps for Portugal. He is one of the top goalscorers for the Portugal national football team. Now, after the international retirement of Pauleta, Gomes was expected to become his successor in the Selecção's striker role.

He scored 3 goals in the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers. His first was scored against Finland and earned Portugal a much needed point in Helsinki. The second came in a 2-1 loss to the Poland and the third in a 4-0 win against Belgium. He also added an assist to his name after a long pass to Tiago, which ended in a goal in Belgrade against Serbia (1-1). He captained Portugal at Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland. During the tournament he became only the fourth player to score at three European Championships when he scored against Germany in the quarter finals, (Thierry Henry, Jurgen Klinsmann and Vladimir Smicer the previous three). However, despite scoring to cut the German's lead in half to 2-1, Portugal went on to lose 3-2.

Career statistics

Honours

Team honours

Team honours with S.L. Benfica

• Portuguese Liga
  • Winner: 2004-05
  • Runner-up: 2003-04, 2002-03, 1997-98
• Portuguese Cup
  • Winner: 1996-97, 2003-04
  • Runner-up: 2004-05
• Portuguese SuperCup
  • Winner: 2005
  • Runner-up: 2004

Team honours with A.C. Fiorentina

• Coppa Italia
  • Winner: 2001

Honours with National Team

• Olympics Games
  • 4th place ( 1996 Summer Olympics, Atlanta )
• UEFA European Football Championship
  • Semi-finals ( UEFA Euro 2000, Belgium / Netherlands )
  • Runner-up ( UEFA Euro 2004, Portugal )
  • Quarter-finals ( UEFA Euro 2008, Austria / Switzerland )
• FIFA World Cup
  • 4th place ( 2006 FIFA World Cup, Germany )

Individual honours and awards

• Euro 2000 - UEFA Team of the Tournament

References

External links

Portugal squad – UEFA Euro 2000 semi-finalists 1 Baía • 2 J. Costa • 3 Rui Jorge • 4 Vidigal • 5 Couto • 6 Sousa • 7 Figo • 8 Pinto • 9 Sá Pinto • 10 R. Costa • 11 Conceição • 12 Espinha • 13 Dimas • 14 Xavier • 15 Costinha • 16 Beto • 17 Bento • 18 Pauleta • 19 Capucho • 20 Secretário • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Quim • Coach: Coelho

Portugal squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Baía • 2 J. Costa • 3 Xavier • 4 Caneira • 5 Couto • 6 Sousa • 7 Figo • 8 Pinto • 9 Pauleta • 10 Rui Costa • 11 Conceição • 12 Viana • 13 Andrade • 14 Barbosa • 15 Nélson • 16 Ricardo • 17 Bento • 18 Frechaut • 19 Capucho • 20 Petit • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Beto • 23 Rui Jorge • Coach: Oliveira

Portugal squad – UEFA Euro 2004 Runners-up 1 Ricardo • 2 Ferreira • 3 Rui Jorge • 4 Andrade • 5 Couto • 6 Costinha • 7 Figo • 8 Petit • 9 Pauleta • 10 R. Costa • 11 Simão • 12 Quim • 13 Miguel • 14 Valente • 15 Beto • 16 Carvalho • 17 Ronaldo • 18 Maniche • 19 Tiago • 20 Deco • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Moreira • 23 Postiga • Coach: Scolari

Portugal squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place 1 Ricardo • 2 Ferreira • 3 Caneira • 4 Costa • 5 Meira • 6 Costinha • 7 Figo • 8 Petit • 9 Pauleta • 10 Viana • 11 Simão • 12 Quim • 13 Miguel • 14 Valente • 15 Boa Morte • 16 Carvalho • 17 Ronaldo • 18 Maniche • 19 Tiago • 20 Deco • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Santos • 23 Postiga • Coach: Scolari

Portugal squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Ricardo • 2 Ferreira • 3 Alves • 4 Bosingwa • 5 Meira • 6 Meireles • 7 Ronaldo • 8 Petit • 9 Almeida • 10 Moutinho • 11 Simão • 12 Nuno • 13 Miguel • 14 Ribeiro • 15 Pepe • 16 Carvalho • 17 Quaresma • 18 Veloso • 19 Nani • 20 Deco • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Patrício • 23 Postiga • Coach: Scolari

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