Nélson Gil de Almeida Gomes (born 2 December 1972) is a Portuguese former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Football career

Born in

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

Portuguese Angola In southwestern Africa, Portuguese Angola was a historical Evolution of the Portuguese Empire, colony of the Portuguese Empire (1575–1951), the overseas province Portuguese West Africa of Estado Novo (Portugal), Estado Novo Portugal (1951–1 ...

, Gomes moved to Portugal at a young age, joining

S.L. Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...

's youth system at the age of 14. He excelled at the

1991 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship was the eighth staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship, an international football competition organized by FIFA for men's youth national teams, and the eighth since it was established in 1977 as the FIF ...

with the Portugal under-20 team, scoring one goal in five matches as the tournament ended in victory. At senior level, however, his

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

input consisted of 30 games over two seasons, not being able to find the net with

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. Best known for the men's professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese foo ...

and C.F. Estrela da Amadora. After leaving his adopted nation in 1995 and until his retirement ten years later – he had already had a spell abroad with French club

Tours FC Tours Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tours (), was a football club based in Tours, France. Formed in 1919, the club adopted the name Tours FC in 1951 after several other name changes. The club was dissolved on 26 February 2025 d ...

– Gomes played all but exclusively in lower league and amateur football. In his last six seasons he competed in England, representing Welwitchia,

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

, Middlewich Town, Salford City,

Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England, formed in 1919. The team's strip is red shirts and black shorts and their home ground is the 4,250 capacity Ewen Fields. Hyde United's record ...

and New East Manchester.

Personal life

Gomes' son,

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

, was born in England while his father was playing there, and represented both

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Honours

Portugal *

UEFA European Under-16 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gomes, Gil 1972 births Living people Angolan emigrants to Portugal Portuguese sportspeople of Angolan descent Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Luanda Men's association football forwards Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players A.D. Ovarense players S.C. Braga players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players Ligue 2 players Tours FC players Swiss Challenge League players Yverdon-Sport FC players FC Wil players Serie C players US Avellino 1912 players Hendon F.C. players Middlewich Town F.C. players Salford City F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the United States Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Italy Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Portuguese football coaches