Nuno Gomes

Nuno Miguel Soares Pereira Ribeiro OIH (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 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.

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

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

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 (2–0) and a hat-trick against União de Leiria, finishing second in the scorers' list and adding the subsequent Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, 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.