From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 career*
Years	Team	Apps (Gls)†
1994–1997	Boavista	007900(23)
1997–2000	Benfica	010100(60)
2000–2002	Fiorentina	005300(14)
2002–	Benfica	017900(61)
National team‡
1996–	Portugal	007700(29)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 September 2009. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 10 October 2009

This is a Portuguese name; the first family name is Soares Pereira and the second is Ribeiro.

Nuno Miguel Soares Pereira Ribeiro (born 5 July 1976 in Amarante), commonly known as Nuno Gomes, is a Portuguese footballer who currently plays for Sport Lisboa e Benfica in the Portuguese first division, as a striker.

He was given the nickname Gomes during childhood after FC Porto and Portugal great Fernando Gomes, and was one of the country's most recognisable offensive players in the past decade; he consistently scored for both club and country, and was capable of being a good link-up player, accumulating a number of assists throughout his career.

Club career

Gomes established his reputation with Boavista FC, where he made his debut in the 1994–95 season, aged 18. He collected his first silverware as Boavista beat Sport Lisboa e Benfica to lift the Portuguese Cup in 1996–97, and scored 23 goals in 79 appearances in three years for the northerners, including 15 in his last term, before moving to Benfica.

After three seasons at Benfica, in which he scored over 60 goals in over 100 appearances, UEFA Euro 2000 exploits earned him a €17 million move to ACF Fiorentina. He won the Italian Cup his first year, but financial collapse by the Viola precipitated a 2002 return to Benfica.

A series of nagging injuries from 2002 to 2005 limited Gomes to under 70 games;^[1][2] however, he still helped Benfica win the domestic cup in 2003–04 and the league the following season. In the latter, he contributed with seven goals in 23 outings. He enjoyed his best season in 2005–06, scoring 15 goals in the league, including two at FC Porto (2–0 win^[3]) and a hat-trick against União de Leiria, snatching second place in the goalscorers' list, and adding the following Portuguese Super Cup, netting the game's only against Vitória de Setúbal.^[4]

From 2006–07 onwards, Gomes faced tough competition for a starting place in Benfica's attack: he only netted six times in the league, and would suffer even more after the signing of Paraguayan Óscar Cardozo in the following summer. However, still a valuable member of the squad, he netted nine goals overall during the season, and was also made team captain over legendary Rui Costa.

On 2 October 2008, he scored his 150th goal for Benfica in a UEFA Cup outing against S.S.C. Napoli (2–0 home win, 4–3 aggregate triumph) with a fine header.

Gomes has recently been linked with a move to PAOK FC.

International career

Gomes currently has earned 77 caps and scored 29 goals for Portugal. Having represented the national side at every level, from the U-15 to the seniors, he netted at an excellent rate at every level.

He represented Portugal in the third place finish in the 1995 Under-20 World Cup, netting four times in as much games, including two in the third-place game against Spain. The following year, he appeared at the 1996 Summer Olympics, helping Portugal to an eventual 4th place.

Gomes made his senior international debut at 19 in a 1996 friendly against France. He scored his first senior international goal in Portugal's opening match at the UEFA Euro 2000, marking his fourth start with the winner as Portugal came from two goals down to beat England 3–2. Gomes would finish the competition with four goals 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.^[5]

With seven goals in only six matches, Gomes helped Portugal qualify for the 2002 World Cup; this included a four-goal performance against Andorra. He would struggle to hold a starting place in the finals, only appearing twice as a substitute. On 19 November 2003, he scored his second hat-trick, in only 21 minutes of play against Kuwait.

Things went better for Gomes at UEFA Euro 2004, where he played each game and, after coming on as a halftime substitute, scored the winning goal against Spain to send the hosts through to the quarter-finals. He was often injured during Portugal's 2006 World Cup qualifiers, only managing to play four games, with one goal. He found limited time at the final stages and only made two appearances, but managed to find the back of the net with a header against Germany in the third-place game, a 1–3 defeat.

After the retirement of Pauleta, Gomes was expected to become his successor in the striker role. He played 10 times and scored three times in Euro 2008's qualifying campaign, captained Portugal at the finals, and scored against Germany in the quarter-finals, thus becoming the fourth player to score at three straight European Championships.

Club statistics

Honours

Team

Boavista

• Portuguese Cup: 1996–97
• Portuguese Supercup: 1997

Benfica

• Portuguese Cup: 2003–04
• Portuguese League: 2004–05
• Portuguese Supercup: 2005
• Portuguese League Cup: 2008–09

Fiorentina

• Italian Cup: 2000–01

National team

• UEFA European Football Championship: Runner-up 2004

Individual

• UEFA European Football Championship: Team of the Tournament 2000

Personal

Nuno Gomes was featured on the cover of the Portuguese edition of FIFA Football 2003.

References

External links

• Stats and profile at Zerozero
• PortuGOAL profile
• NationalFootballTeams data

Portugal squads Portugal squad – 1996 Summer Olympics Fourth Place 1 Costinha • 2 Kenedy • 3 Rui Bento • 4 Peixe • 5 Beto • 6 Andrade • 7 Dominguez • 8 Capucho • 9 Paulo Alves • 10 Afonso Martins • 11 Rui Jorge • 12 Nuno • 13 Vidigal • 14 Calado • 15 Nuno Gomes • 16 Porfírio • 17 Litos • 18 Dani • 20 Nuno Afonso • Coach: Nelo Vingada 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 J. Andrade • 5 Couto • 6 Costinha • 7 Figo • 8 Petit • 9 Pauleta • 10 Rui Costa • 11 Simão • 12 Quim • 13 Miguel • 14 Valente • 15 Beto • 16 R. Carvalho • 17 C. Ronaldo • 18 Maniche • 19 Tiago • 20 Deco • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Moreira • 23 H. 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 C. Ronaldo • 18 Maniche • 19 Tiago • 20 Deco • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Santos • 23 H. Postiga • Coach: Scolari Portugal squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Ricardo • 2 Ferreira • 3 Bruno Alves • 4 Bosingwa • 5 Meira • 6 R. Meireles • 7 Ronaldo • 8 Petit • 9 H. Almeida • 10 J. Moutinho • 11 Simão • 12 Nuno • 13 Miguel • 14 Ribeiro • 15 Pepe • 16 R. Carvalho • 17 Quaresma • 18 M. Veloso • 19 Nani • 20 Deco • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Patrício • 23 H. Postiga • Coach: Scolari