Nuno Miguel Soares Pereira Ribeiro (born 5 July 1976), known as Nuno Gomes, is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was given the nickname ''Gomes'' during childhood after Fernando Gomes, and was regarded as one of the country's most recognisable attacking players in the 1990s and 2000s; he consistently scored for both club and country, and was also capable of being a good link-up player, accumulating a number of assists throughout his career, which was spent mainly with Benfica, for which he netted 166 goals in 398 games over the course of 12 seasons. Gomes represented

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in two World Cups and three European Championships. He helped the national team finish second at Euro 2004 and third at Euro 2000, and won 79 senior caps.

Club career

Boavista and Benfica

Born in Amarante, Gomes established his reputation with Boavista, where he made 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 ...

debut in the 1994–95 season, aged 18. He collected his first silverware as his team beat Benfica to lift the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

in 1997, scoring a goal and winning a penalty kick in a 3–2 win in the final; he and fellow scorer Erwin Sánchez had already agreed to transfer to the opponents. Gomes ranked joint-fourth top scorer in his last year at the Estádio do Bessa, before moving to Benfica. In the 1998–99 campaign he netted 34 times in all competitions, in an eventual third-place finish in the league.

Fiorentina

After three seasons at Benfica, his Euro 2000 exploits earned Gomes a €17 million move to Fiorentina. He won the Coppa Italia over

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in his first year, scoring in a 1–1 draw in the second leg of the final at home, which allowed his team to clinch the title 2–1 on aggregate; however, his second season was less successful, as financial collapse by the ''Viola'' and their subsequent relegation precipitated a 2002 return to his previous club on a four-year deal as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Return to Benfica

A series of injuries limited Gomes to under 70 games from 2002 to 2005, but he still helped Benfica win the domestic cup in 2003–04 and the league the following season – in the latter, he contributed seven goals from 23 appearances. He enjoyed his best season in 2005–06, scoring 15 goals in the league, including two in an away win over

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

(2–0) and a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against União de Leiria, finishing second in the scorers' list and adding the subsequent

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

, where he netted the game's only goal against Vitória de Setúbal. From 2006–07 onwards, Gomes faced tough competition for a starting place: he only netted six times in the league, and would suffer even more after the signing of Paraguayan Óscar Cardozo the following summer. However, still a valuable member of the squad, he finished the campaign with nine overall goals, handing the captain armband to legendary Rui Costa in the process. On 2 October 2008, Gomes scored his 150th goal for Benfica in a

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

game against Napoli (2–0 home win, 4–3 aggregate victory) with a fine header. Following the arrival of Argentine Javier Saviola in June 2009, he further fell down the striker pecking order. Again a reserve player in 2010–11 – but playing even less – the 34-year-old Gomes made the most with the minutes provided to him by manager Jorge Jesus. He scored his first goal in the season on 14 November 2010 in a 4–0 home defeat of Naval, the 200th in the competition, and dedicated it to his father Joaquim who had died in August. In two consecutive league games in March 2011, he scored three goals, one at home against Portimonense (1–1 draw) and two in a 5–1 away rout of Paços de Ferreira, appearing as a late substitute in all three matches.

Braga

Gomes was released by Benfica on 30 June 2011, after the club decided not to renew his contract; he was, however, offered a position in the managerial structure, effective immediately or when he eventually retired. Shortly after, he signed with fellow top-division

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

. On 11 September 2011, Gomes scored a brace in a 3–1 home win against Gil Vicente. During his only season with the Minho side, he was mostly used as a backup.

Blackburn Rovers

On 3 July 2012, Gomes signed a two-year deal at Blackburn Rovers in the EFL Championship, becoming their third signing of the 2012–13 summer

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

. On 18 August he made his league debut for his new club, against Ipswich Town, scoring his first goal the following round in the 2–1 home victory over Leicester City. On 28 June 2013, aged 36, Gomes was released. After retiring, he was appointed director of Benfica's academy at Futebol Campus in

Seixal Seixal () is a Portugal, Portuguese city and municipality, located in the district of Setúbal District, Setúbal, in the metropolitan area of Lisbon region, Lisbon. Its population includes 184,269 inhabitants (2011), in an area of that includes ...

, leaving his position in September 2017.

International career

Gomes represented

at every level, earning 143 caps across all youth levels and scoring at an excellent rate. He helped the under-20s to third place in the 1995 FIFA World Youth Championship by netting four goals in as many games, including two in the third-place match against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The following year, he appeared at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, finishing fourth. Gomes made his senior debut at 19, in a 1996 friendly against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He scored his first goal in Portugal's opening match at the UEFA Euro 2000, marking his fourth start with the winner as the side came from two goals down to beat

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 ...

3–2. He finished the competition with four goals as the national team reached the last four, but earned a seven-month international ban after pushing referee

Günter Benkö Günter Benkö (born 12 July 1955 in Oberwart, Burgenland) is a retired football (soccer) referee from Austria, best known for supervising two matches during the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. He also led two matches at the 2000 UEFA European ...

following the semi-final defeat by France, in which he had opened the score; he was selected to the

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

team of the tournament. With seven goals in only six matches, Gomes helped Portugal qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup – this included four in a 7–1 away demolition of

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

. He would struggle to hold a starting place in the finals in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and Japan, only appearing twice from the bench. On 19 November 2003 he scored his second hat-trick, in only 21 minutes of play against

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

. Things went better for Gomes at Euro 2004, where he played each game and, after coming on as a half-time substitute, scored the winning goal against

to send the hosts through to the quarter-finals. He was often injured during the nation's 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign, only managing to play four times, 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 hosts

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in the third-place playoff, a 3–1 defeat. After the retirement of Pauleta, Gomes was expected to become his successor in the striker role. He played ten matches and scored three times in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, captained Portugal at the finals and scored against Germany in the quarter-finals, thus becoming the fourth player to achieve the feat at three straight European Championships. Following the appointment of Carlos Queiroz as coach, Gomes was constantly overlooked due to his lack of minutes at Benfica. During the 2010 World Cup qualification, he only took part in four out of 12 fixtures, all as a substitute, with Liédson and Hugo Almeida being preferred; he was one of the 50 preliminary players but was left out of the 23-men squad for the final stages in South Africa, this being the first time the player was left out of a major tournament. On 7 October 2011, after more than two years out of international play, the 35-year-old Gomes replaced Hélder Postiga in the last minute of a 5–3 home victory over

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

for the Euro 2012 qualifiers. Four days later, he played against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

in what was his last full appearance; due to little playing time for his club in 2011–12, he was left out of Paulo Bento's squad for the finals in Poland and Ukraine.

Personal life

Gomes' younger brother, Tiago (born 1981), was also a footballer and a striker. He spent most of his career in the lower leagues but, from 2004 to 2007, competed in the Segunda Liga with Marco (two seasons) and Olivais e Moscavide (one), totalling 30 games and one goal. Gomes was married twice, first to Isméria with whom he had a daughter, Laura, born in 1999. In July 2006 he married lawyer Patrícia Aguilar, with whom he also fathered another child, Nuno, born in July 2010. He was featured on the cover of the Portuguese edition of '' FIFA Football 2002''.

Career statistics

Club

¹ includes one match in the Supercoppa Italiana.
² includes one match and one goal in the

International

:''Scores and results list Portugal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gomes goal.''

Honours

Boavista *

: 1996–97 Fiorentina * Coppa Italia: 2000–01 Benfica *

: 2004–05, 2009–10 *Taça de Portugal: 2003–04 * Taça da Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11 *

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Portugal *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

runner-up:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

; third-place:

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

* UEFA European Under-18 Championship:

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

* FIFA U-20 World Cup third place: 1995 * Toulon Tournament third place: 1996 Individual *Primeira Liga Player of the Year: 1998–99, 1999–2000 * SJPF Player of the Month: September 2005, October 2005 *UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 2000 *Toulon Tournament top scorer: 1996 Orders * PRT Ordem de Nossa Senhora da Conceicao de Vila Vicosa Cavaleiro ribbon