Nuno Valente

Nuno Valente

Personal information
Full name	Nuno Jorge Pereira da Silva Valente
Date of birth	(1974-09-12) 12 September 1974
Place of birth	Lisbon, Portugal
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Left back
Youth career
1985–1989	Sporting CP
1989–1990	Vitória Lisboa
1990–1993	Sporting CP
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1993–1999	Sporting CP	36	(1)
1993–1994	→ Portimonense (loan)	26	(1)
1996–1997	→ Marítimo (loan)	30	(0)
1999–2002	União Leiria	87	(2)
2002–2005	Porto	58	(0)
2005–2009	Everton	45	(0)
Total		282	(4)
National team
1996	Portugal U21	1	(0)
2002–2008	Portugal	33	(1)
Honours Representing  Portugal Men's Football UEFA European Championship Portugal 2004 Team
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Nuno Jorge Pereira da Silva Valente, OIH (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈnunu vɐˈlẽt(ɨ)]; born 12 September 1974) is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a left back.

After settling with a club in his late 20s with Porto – he started his career with Sporting, but never imposed there – he moved at 31 to England with Everton, where he finally retired after appearing in 60 competitive games in four seasons.

A late bloomer on the international stage, Valente helped Portugal finish second in Euro 2004. He also participated in the 2006 World Cup.

Club career

Early years / Porto

Born in Lisbon, Valente began his career at second division club Portimonense SC, loaned by hometown's Sporting Clube de Portugal. However, he found first-team chances limited in the capital side and, despite success in helping win the Portuguese Cup in 1995, he was loaned for the 1996–97 season to fellow league team C.S. Marítimo.

A young José Mourinho recognized Valente's talent and brought him to U.D. Leiria, and he spent three years with the team, helping it achieve successful seasons. In 2002, when the manager left to join FC Porto, he and teammate Derlei were the first signings, and the former repaid the coach's faith with some good displays as the northerners romped to victory in the national league and won the UEFA Cup against Celtic FC (3–2).

The following campaign Valente produced yet another excellent campaign, helping his club to domestic championship and Champions League wins with the defender appearing in 11 games during the latter competition's run, ten of those complete. At the season's closure, he renewed his contract until 2007.^[1]

After Mourinho signed for Chelsea, Valente picked up a succession of injuries.^[2][3] He only played eight matches in the entire domestic campaign but returned in time to face Inter Milan in the Champions League round-of-16, not being able to prevent his team losing 2–4 on aggregate.

Everton

After another poor year, which included an ultimatum by Porto president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa that ordered him to choose between club or national team, eventually leading to a suspension,^[4] he was signed by Everton on a three-year deal worth €2.2 million,^[5] under recommendation of mentor Mourinho, at the end of August 2005, after the Merseyside club lost regular left-back Alessandro Pistone to injury. He took a while to adapt to the hectic pace of the Premier League, but soon became a key feature in the Everton side from then on – in the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons he was considered first-choice, but faced stiff competition from Gary Naysmith; in February 2007, Everton took the option of a one-year extension to his contract, tying him to the club until June of the following year.^[6]

In early May 2008 Valente signed another one-year link,^[7] but he eventually fell down the pecking order at the Toffees, usually backing Leighton Baines. Furthermore, with centre back Joleon Lescott also being able to play the position, he received little playing time during 2008–09, being released on 12 June 2009 and choosing to retire from playing.

Upon his retirement, Valente was appointed Everton's official scout in Portugal.^[8] After one year he returned to main club Sporting. He then played one game as part of being a player coach. Later however he joined Paulo Sérgio's coaching staff and officially stopped playing football.

International career

A full Portuguese international since after the 2002 FIFA World Cup,^[9] Valente was first-choice for the national side during the runner-up campaign at UEFA Euro 2004, played in home soil. During 2005 he suffered a thigh strain, but recovered in time to play in the 2006 World Cup, again playing a key part in Portugal's eventual fourth-place finish.

After playing only once during the Euro 2008 qualifiers, Valente retired from international football in September 2008.^[10]

Nuno Valente: International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	31 March 2004	Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga, Portugal	Italy	1–0	1–2	Friendly

Club statistics

^[11]

Honours

Club

Sporting

• Taça de Portugal: 1994–95

Porto

• UEFA Champions League: 2003–04
• UEFA Cup: 2002–03
• Intercontinental Cup: 2004
• Primeira Liga: 2002–03, 2003–04
• Taça de Portugal: 2002–03
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2002, 2003

Country

• UEFA European Championship: Runner-up 2004

Orders

• Medal of Merit, Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (House of Braganza)^[12]

References

External links

• Nuno Valente at thefinalball.com
  
• Nuno Valente profile at ForaDeJogo
  
• Nuno Valente career statistics at Soccerbase
  
• Nuno Valente at National-Football-Teams.com
• Nuno Valente – FIFA competition record

Portugal squad – UEFA Euro 2004 Runners-up
1 Ricardo 2 Ferreira 3 Rui Jorge 4 Andrade 5 F. Couto (c) 6 Costinha 7 Figo 8 Petit 9 Pauleta 10 Rui Costa 11 Simão 12 Quim 13 Miguel 14 N. Valente 15 Beto 16 Carvalho 17 C. Ronaldo 18 Maniche 19 Tiago 20 Deco 21 Nuno Gomes 22 Moreira 23 H. Postiga Coach: Scolari

Portugal squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place
1 Ricardo 2 Ferreira 3 Caneira 4 Costa 5 Meira 6 Costinha 7 Figo (c) 8 Petit 9 Pauleta 10 H. Viana 11 Simão 12 Quim 13 Miguel 14 N. Valente 15 Boa Morte 16 Carvalho 17 C. Ronaldo 18 Maniche 19 Tiago 20 Deco 21 Nuno Gomes 22 Santos 23 H. Postiga Coach: Scolari