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Nuno Gomes (pronounced [ˈnunu ˈgomɨʃ]) was born Nuno Miguel Soares Pereira Ribeiro, OIH on July 5, 1976 in Amarante. He is a striker who plays for the Portugal national football team and currently plays for 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 will also partake 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.

Born in Amarante, in north-west Portugal, he 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. Now, he becomes one of the greatest Benfica player, with over 150 goals for The Eagle.

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.

2007-2008: He is still the key player in the team, scoring 4 goal before suffer in injury. He scored 2 goals in the match that Benfica crush Boavista with 6 goals. The Portuguese talented international striker will be the leader of the young 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 overall 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 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 27 goals in 63 caps for Portugal. He is one of the top goalscorers for the Portugal national football team. Now, after the international retirement of Pauleta, Nuno Gomes is expected to become his successor in the Selecção's striker role.

He has currently scored 3 goals in the 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. Now, he is the captain of Selecção Das Quinas, leading the team to Euro 2008 next year.

• Superliga (2005, SL Benfica)
• Portuguese Supercup (2005, SL Benfica)
• Portuguese Cup (1997, 2004, Boavista FC, SL Benfica)
• Coppa Italia (2001, ACF Fiorentina)

He divorced Ismeria in the summer of 2003. With whom he has a daughter Laura. He remarried to Portuguese's former journalist Patricia Aguilar in July 2006.

NOTE ON NAME: Unlike other Portuguese players, such as Ricardo Carvalho or Nuno Valente, Nuno Gomes' name is essentially a nickname, that comes from his admiration for Fernando Gomes, who was at FC Porto in the 80's, rather than a first name and a surname and is always given in full - he is never simply 'Gomes'.

• www.PortuGOAL.net | | The definitive Portuguese football site (Player Profile Section)
• (Portuguese) Official site
• UEFA bio

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

v • d • e 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