Since the news broke that Luiz Felipe Scolari would be swapping Lisbon for London next month to take the reins at Chelsea FC, Portugal’s impressive progress to the last eight of UEFA EURO 2008™ has risked becoming a mere subplot to the main story of the Brazilian’s impending departure.

Focus on present
Inevitably there have been concerns expressed about the timing of the news and its impact on a Portugal squad who, through their opening wins over Turkey and the Czech Republic, had emerged as strong early contenders for the European crown. According to Nuno Gomes, one of the group’s most experienced members, however, those fears are quite unfounded. "The players are concentrating on what we have to do and what we are here for and Mr Scolari is focused on what he has to do - on the present," said the SL Benfica forward. "He is doing what he has to do and we are paying attention only to this tournament and nothing else."

Barometer
So no negative impact at all? "The mood hasn’t changed. We are calm, we are cool," he replied. As a barometer of the mood within the Portugal squad, Nuno Gomes is probably as reliable as anyone. The only survivor of the team that reached the semi-finals of UEFA EURO 2000, the 31-year-old surpassed Luís Figo’s record of appearances in major tournaments - of which this is is his fifth - when making his 17th in the 3-1 win over the Czech Republic and is now just two shy of Figo’s 14 in UEFA European Championships.

Final aim
Nuno Gomes, who scored five goals in the 2000 tournament, has played in a semi-final and a final on Europe’s élite stage and is aware how difficult it will be for the Group A winners to go one step further this time. "All the teams we are going to face from now on will be strong teams but obviously we would love to get to the final. That is our aim but we are worried - first of all to find out who we will face in the quarter-final." Germany, second in Group B, are currently on course to play Portugal and Nuno Gomes said: "We saw Germany’s first game and liked the team a lot. Against Croatia they didn’t play very well but they still have a good team and, theoretically, are one of the favourites.
‘Keep up good work’
"But you have to play the big teams - at EURO 2004, we faced Spain in the group stage and then Holland and England," he added. "In the World Cup we played against those teams [Netherlands and England] again." Before that, of course, Portugal face Sunday’s final group fixture against an eliminated Switzerland side. Nuno Gomes will probably be one of several players to be rested but he stressed that "the team that will play will do everything possible to get a third victory". He continued: "It doesn’t change the importance of it - we don’t want to be defeated, nobody likes to lose and the team playing will be determined to keep up the good work and keep on performing as we have done."

Nuno Miguel Soares Pereira Ribeiro, born on 5th July ,1976 in Amarante. He is a striker who plays for the Portugal national football team and currently plays for S.L. 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.

Career

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.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: Still a valuable player on the team, has scored six league goals, including two in a 6-1 rout of former team Boavista. He also was made captain of Benfica above Rui Costa

National 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, Gomes was expected to become his successor in the Selecção’s striker role. He 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 (1-1).

Honours

• Portuguese Liga 2005
• Portuguese SuperCup 2005
• Portuguese Cup 1997,2004
• Coppa Italia 2001