Misplaced Pages

Fernando Gomes

Gomes with Porto in the 80s
Personal information
Full name	Fernando Mendes Soares Gomes
Date of birth	(1956-11-22)22 November 1956
Place of birth	Porto, Portugal
Date of death	26 November 2022(2022-11-26) (aged 66)
Place of death	Porto, Portugal
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1972–1974	Porto
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1974–1980	Porto	158	(125)
1980–1982	Sporting Gijón	27	(12)
1982–1989	Porto	183	(163)
1989–1991	Sporting CP	63	(31)
Total		431	(331)
International career
1974	Portugal U18	6	(1)
1974–1977	Portugal U21	14	(6)
1975–1988	Portugal	48	(13)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Portugal UEFA European Championship 1984 France
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Fernando Mendes Soares Gomes (22 November 1956 – 26 November 2022) was a Portuguese professional footballer who played as a striker.

He achieved great success with Porto, during the late 1970s and 1980s. He represented Sporting CP in the Primeira Liga as well, and also spent two years in Spain with Sporting de Gijón.

The recipient of nearly 50 caps for Portugal, Gomes represented the nation in one World Cup and one European Championship.

Club career

Showing great ability since entering Porto's youth academy, Porto-born Gomes scored twice in his first-team debut in 1974, scoring twice in a 2–1 win over CUF. Except for a two-year stint in La Liga with Sporting de Gijón (nearly one year of inactivity due to tendonitis), when most key players left the Estádio das Antas in support of director of football – later president – Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, he was in all important moments of the rebirth of the club: the 20-year Primeira Liga drought end in the 1978–79 season, the first UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final against Juventus in 1984 and, while he missed the 1987 final of the European Cup against Bayern Munich after breaking a leg in training days before, he netted five times in the side's victorious campaign, including once in the semi-finals with Dynamo Kyiv; he still recovered in time to play in the European Supercup against Ajax and the Intercontinental Cup against Peñarol, on both occasions captaining the winner and scoring the opening goal in the latter game for a 2–1 victory.

In addition, Gomes also won five leagues, three Portuguese Cups and three domestic supercups. Due to personality clashes with Porto's board of directors, he signed with Sporting CP, ending his career in 1990–91 after still netting 22 goals in his final season and also helping the Lions to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, aged 34.

Gomes retired with Portuguese League totals of 404 matches and 319 goals. His nickname, "Bi-bota", was given after the two European Golden Boot awards he received, in 1983 and 1985. He remained the best goalscorer in the national territory for more than two decades only behind Benfica's Nené, and later returned to Porto, going on to work with the club in an ambassadorial role.

International career

For the Portugal national team, Gomes scored 13 goals in 48 games from 9 March 1975 until 16 November 1988. His final appearance occurred against Luxembourg for the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, netting the only goal at the Estádio do Bessa.

Gomes was part of the squads at both UEFA Euro 1984 and the 1986 World Cup, reaching the semi-finals of the former tournament, being one of the few players that did not defect from the national side after the latter competition (following the infamous Saltillo Affair) and ending his international career two years later.

Style of play

Apart from being a technically gifted player and a prolific goalscorer, Gomes' talent resided on a fantastic positional sense, which made him very dangerous inside the six-yard box, and earned him a reputation as a "poacher" in the media. In 2023, Tom Hancock of FourFourTwo magazine considered him to be one of the best strikers of the 1980s.

Personal life and death

Gomes once quoted: "Scoring a goal is like having an orgasm." Benfica striker Nuno Gomes, who played in the 90s/2000s, chose that nickname in deference to him.

On 17 January 2020, Gomes' daughter Filipa died in mysterious circumstances. She worked in the fashion industry, and was 32.

On 26 November 2022, Gomes died of pancreatic cancer, four days after his 66th birthday. He had been fighting the disease for the three years prior to his death.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition.

1. Includes Taça de Portugal and Copa del Rey
2. ^ Appearances in UEFA Cup
3. ^ Appearances in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
4. ^ Appearances in European Cup
5. ^ Appearances in Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
6. Two appearances in European Super Cup, one appearance and one goal in Intercontinental Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year.

International goals

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

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	11 October 1978	Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal	Belgium	1–0	1–1	UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying
2	26 March 1980	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Scotland	1–3	1–4	UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying
3	10 October 1982	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	Poland	2–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying
4	6 September 1984	Estádio do Restelo, Lisbon, Portugal	Bulgaria	1–0	1–0	Friendly
5	12 September 1984	Råsunda Stadium, Stockholms län, Sweden	Sweden	1–0	1–0	1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	10 February 1985	National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Ta' Qali, Malta	Malta	2–0	3–1	1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
7				3–1
8	12 October 1985	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	Malta	1–0	3–2	1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
9				3–2
10	5 February 1986	Estádio Municipal de Portimão, Portimão, Portugal	Luxembourg	2–0	2–0	Friendly
11	19 February 1986	Estádio 1º de Maio, Braga, Portugal	East Germany	1–3	1–3	Friendly
12	23 September 1987	Råsunda Stadium, Stockholms län, Sweden	Sweden	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
13	16 November 1988	Estádio do Bessa, Porto, Portugal	Luxembourg	1–0	1–0	1990 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Porto

• Primeira Divisão: 1977–78, 1978–79, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88
• Taça de Portugal: 1976–77, 1983–84, 1987–88
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 1983, 1984, 1986
• European Cup: 1986–87
• European Super Cup: 1987
• Intercontinental Cup: 1987

Individual

• Bola de Prata: 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85
• Taça de Portugal top scorer: 1979–80, 1982–83
• European Golden Shoe: 1983, 1985
• Portuguese Footballer of the Year: 1983

References

1. ^ Fernando Gomes at WorldFootball.net
2. ^ "FC Porto recorda a estreia de Gomes" [FC Porto remember Gomes' debut]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 8 September 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
3. ^ "Un fichaje espectacular" [Spectacular signing]. El Comercio (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 February 2022.
4. "FC Porto. O Verão quente de 1980, que esfriou a relação no futebol" [FC Porto. 1980's hot summer, when football relations turned cold]. i (in Portuguese). 6 August 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
5. Da Cunha, Pedro Jorge (27 May 2017). "Baixas em Viena: "Fraturei a tíbia e o perónio, mas marquei golo"" [Out for Vienna: "I fractured both the tibia and the fibula, but I scored"] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
6. Marques, Sara (11 January 2016). "O dia em que o FC Porto trouxe a Supertaça Europeia para Portugal" [The day FC Porto brought the European Supercup to Portugal] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
7. "Toyota Cup 1987". FIFA. Archived from the original on 11 November 2010. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
8. Da Cunha, Pedro Jorge (28 April 2014). "1988/89: FC Porto sem troféus e dez campeões europeus a chorar" [1988/89: FC Porto without trophies and ten European champions crying] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
9. "Recordações de Alvalade: 1991, o Inter nos pés de Oceano" [Memories from Alvalade: 1991, Inter in Oceano's feet] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 28 June 2003. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
10. "A melhor época de sempre de Mário Jardel" [Mário Jardel's best season ever] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 6 May 2002. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
11. "Fernando Gomes: uma Bota de Ouro com orgulho e memória" [Fernando Gomes: a Golden Boot with pride and memory]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 8 November 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
12. "Award winners". European Sports Media. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
13. "Fernando Gomes lembra play-off de 2016/17 e aborda rumores sobre Herrera" [Fernando Gomes remembers 2016/17 play-off and addresses Herrera rumours]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 17 December 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
14. "Lista completa dos internacionais portugueses" [Complete list of Portuguese internationals] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 18 February 2004. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
15. "Platini faz a diferença em meia-final de sonho" [Platini makes the difference in dream semi-final] (in Portuguese). UEFA. 4 October 2003. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
16. Sousa Vasco, Rute (22 May 2018). "Saltillo, 1986. O 25 de abril do futebol português ou algo muito parecido" [Saltillo, 1986. The 25 April of Portuguese football or something like that] (in Portuguese). SAPO. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
17. "Nené sends Portugal to EURO 1984 semis as Romania miss out in Group 2". UEFA. 4 October 2003. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
18. Hancock, Tom (27 November 2023). "The best strikers of the 80s". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
19. "1/16 final Taça de Portugal – Quarta-Feira, 20 de Janeiro de 2010 – Freamunde, 1 (Bertinho 60m) vs SC Braga, 3 (F. Oliveira 58m, Moisés 72m e Matheus 79m)" [Portuguese Cup Last-32 – Wednesday, 20 January 2010 – Freamunde, 1 (Bertinho 60m) vs SC Braga, 3 (F. Oliveira 58m, Moisés 72m and Matheus 79m] (in Portuguese). Pacto Factual. 22 January 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
20. Vinagre, Hugo (2 January 2019). "Nuno Gomes: "Tive propostas de Itália e Inglaterra. Respondi que só falavamos depois de me reunir com o Benfica"" [Nuno Gomes: "I had offers from Italy and England. I replied that there would only be conversations after I met with Benfica"] (in Portuguese). Playboy. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
21. "Antigo jogador Fernando Gomes, o 'Bibota', de luto pela filha de 32 anos" [Former player Fernando Gomes, the 'Bibota', mourns 32-year-old daughter]. Correio da Manhã (in Portuguese). 17 January 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
22. "Fernando Gomes está de luto pela morte da filha" [Fernando Gomes mourns deceased daughter]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 17 January 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
23. "Funeral da filha de Fernando Gomes marcado por lágrimas e dor" [Funeral of Fernando Gomes' daughter marked by tears and pain]. Jornal da Madeira (in Portuguese). 19 January 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
24. Cabranes, Ángel (26 November 2022). "Fallece a los 66 años el exjugador del Sporting Fernando Gomes" [Former Sporting player Fernando Gomes dies at the age of 66]. La Nueva España (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 November 2022.
25. Fernando Gomes at ForaDeJogo (archived)
26. "Fernando Gomes". Footballdatabase.
27. ^ "Portugal - Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
28. ^ Fernando Gomes at EU-Football.info
29. Claro, Paulo; Preston, Simon; Nunes, João; Di Maggio, Roberto. "Portugal – List of Topscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
30. Arotaritei, Sorin; Di Maggio, Roberto. "Golden Boot ("Soulier d'Or") Awards". RSSSF. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
31. Conceição Silva, Rui Manuel. "Portugal – Footballer of the Year". RSSSF. Retrieved 9 February 2022.

External links

• Fernando Gomes at ForaDeJogo (archived)
• Fernando Gomes at BDFutbol
• Fernando Gomes at National-Football-Teams.com
• Fernando Gomes – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Fernando Gomes national team profile at the Portuguese Football Federation (in Portuguese)

Portugal squads

v t e Portugal squad – UEFA Euro 1984 semi-finalists 1 Bento (c) 2 Nené 3 Jordão 4 Chalana 5 Vermelhinho 6 Gomes 7 Manuel 8 Veloso 9 Pinto 10 Lima Pereira 11 Eurico 12 Martins 13 Sousa 14 Frasco 15 Pacheco 16 Bastos Lopes 17 Álvaro 18 Luís 19 Diamantino 20 Damas Coach: Cabrita v t e Portugal squad – 1986 FIFA World Cup 1 Bento (c) 2 J. Pinto 3 Sousa 4 Ribeiro 5 Álvaro 6 C. Manuel 7 Pacheco 8 Frederico 9 Gomes 10 Futre 11 Bandeirinha 12 Martins 13 Morato 14 Magalhães 15 Oliveira 16 J. António 17 Diamantino 18 Sobrinho 19 Águas 20 Inácio 21 André 22 Damas Coach: Torres

• 1956 births
• 2022 deaths
• Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Portugal
• Portuguese men's footballers
• Footballers from Porto
• Men's association football forwards
• Primeira Liga players
• FC Porto players
• Sporting CP footballers
• La Liga players
• Sporting de Gijón players
• UEFA Champions League–winning players
• Portugal men's youth international footballers
• Portugal men's under-21 international footballers
• Portugal men's international footballers
• UEFA Euro 1984 players
• 1986 FIFA World Cup players
• Portuguese expatriate men's footballers
• Expatriate men's footballers in Spain
• Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain
• FC Porto non-playing staff
• 20th-century Portuguese sportsmen