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Maniche
Personal information
Full name	Nuno Ricardo de Oliveira Ribeiro
Date of birth	November 11, 1977 (age 29)
Place of birth	Lisbon, Portugal
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.79 m)[1]
Nickname	Maniche
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Atlético Madrid
Number	20
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1995 – 1996 1996 - 1999 1999 - 2002 2002 - 2005 2005-2006 2006 2006-	Benfica Alverca Benfica Porto Dynamo Moscow → Chelsea (loan) Atlético Madrid	0 (0) 78 (10) 54 (11) 80 (15) 13 (2) 8 (0) 23 (3)
National team2
2003 – present	Portugal	40 (6)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 July 2006. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 11 October 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Maniche (pron. IPA: [ma'niʃɨ] or less usually [ma'nik(ɨ)]; real name: Nuno Ricardo de Oliveira Ribeiro, OIH, born on 11 November 1977 in Lisbon, Portugal) is a midfielder who currently plays for Atlético Madrid and the Portuguese national team. Although being born from Danish parents, His nickname 'Maniche' was given after Benfica's 1980's legendary Danish forward Michael Manniche also in the remembrance of where he came from.

Maniche began his career in the junior team of Benfica. His intermediate stops were Alverca and the first team of Benfica, where he played as a winger. He played for his country in their second-place finish at Euro 2004. He has scored 6 goals in 35 caps for Portugal.

Following disciplinary problems at Benfica, he was signed by Jose Mourinho, the new manager of Futebol Clube do Porto. Mourinho made Maniche a key member of his team, playing him in the centre of midfield, as opposed to his previous position of winger.

After successful seasons for FC Porto from 2002 to 2005, winning both the UEFA Cup in 2003 and the UEFA Champions League in 2004, Maniche was sold to Dynamo Moscow for 16 million Euros.

Maniche played a significant role in Chelsea's most memorable game of the 2005-06 season, though it was not the sort of involvement he would have hoped for. Making his first start for Chelsea in a home game against West Ham United, Maniche failed to stop West Ham's James Collins from putting the Hammers ahead on 14 minutes, had an opportunity to score an equaliser but smashed his shot against the crossbar, and was then shown an immediate red card three minutes later for a challenge on West Ham's Lionel Scaloni. However, Chelsea went on to secure an improbable 4-1 victory.

Maniche was part of the Chelsea team that won the 2005/2006 English Premier League championship title, the second successive title for the club, though he did not make enough appearances to earn a winners' medal. Chelsea had the option of making the transfer permanent at the end of the season, for £5m ($9m), however they chose not to and Maniche returned to Dynamo Moscow[2]. He then was subsequently signed by Atlético Madrid.

On June 21 in 2006 FIFA World Cup, Portugal played Mexico, in Portugal's final group game. Maniche scored in the 6th minute, and Portugal went on to win by two goals to one, to progress as group-winners. On June 25 in the Round of 16, the Portuguese played the Netherlands. He scored the only goal in the game.

He is the only Portuguese player to feature on adidas Golden Ball shortlist [3].

• FIFA Intercontinental Cup: 1
  • 2004, FC Porto
• UEFA Champions League: 1
  • 2003/04, FC Porto
• UEFA Cup: 1
  • 2002/03, FC Porto
• Portuguese SuperLiga: 2
  • 2002/03, FC Porto
  • 2003/04, FC Porto
• Portuguese Cup: 1
  • 2002/03, FC Porto
• Portuguese Supercup: 2
  • 2003/04, FC Porto
  • 2004/05, FC Porto

• Jorge Ribeiro, Maniche younger brother.

	Portugal squad - 2004 European Football Championship Runners-Up
1 Ricardo | 2 P. Ferreira | 3 Rui Jorge | 4 J. Andrade | 5 F. Couto | 6 Costinha | 7 Figo | 8 Petit | 9 Pauleta | 10 Rui Costa | 11 Simão | 12 Quim | 13 Miguel | 14 N. 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 P. Ferreira | 3 Caneira | 4 R. Costa | 5 Meira | 6 Costinha | 7 Figo | 8 Petit | 9 Pauleta | 10 H. Viana | 11 Simão | 12 Quim | 13 Miguel | 14 N. Valente | 15 Boa Morte | 16 R. Carvalho | 17 C. Ronaldo | 18 Maniche | 19 Tiago | 20 Deco | 21 Nuno Gomes | 22 P. Santos | 23 H. Postiga | Coach: Scolari

Atlético Madrid - Current Squad
1 Cuéllar | 2 Seitaridis | 3 Antonio López | 4 Pernía | 5 Luccin | 6 Costinha | 7 Galletti | 8 Gabi | 9 Torres | 10 Agüero | 11 Maxi | 12 Fabiano Eller | 13 Falcón | 14 Zé Castro | 15 Jurado | 17 Petrov | 18 Valera | 19 Miguel | 20 Maniche | 21 Perea | 22 Pablo | 23 Mista | 25 Franco | 28 Marqués | 29 Azcárate | 45 Víctor Bravo | 46 Pollo | Coach Aguirre