Capucho (footballer)

Capucho

Personal information
Full name	Nuno Fernando Gonçalves Rocha
Date of birth	21 February 1972 (1972-02-21) (age 39)
Place of birth	Barcelos, Portugal
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Winger
Youth career
1985–1990	Gil Vicente
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1990–1992	Gil Vicente	50	(3)
1992–1995	Sporting CP	65	(10)
1995–1997	Vitória Guimarães	65	(15)
1997–2003	Porto	188	(32)
2003–2004	Rangers	22	(5)
2004–2005	Celta	19	(0)
National team
1991	Portugal U20	8	(1)
1994	Portugal U21	3	(0)
1996–2002	Portugal	34	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Nuno Fernando Gonçalves da Rocha (born 21 February 1972 in Barcelos), aka Capucho, is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a winger.

Blessed with scoring and dribbling ability alike, he also displayed good defensive and tackling skills.^[1] His 15-year professional career was mainly associated with Porto (although he also represented Sporting), with which he won a total of 13 major titles, having appeared in 368 Portuguese first division games in 13 seasons, scoring 60 goals.

For Portugal, Capucho appeared in one FIFA World Cup and one UEFA European Football Championship, both in the early 2000s.

Club career

After starting with hometown Gil Vicente FC, Capucho moved to national giants Sporting Clube de Portugal, where he would be relatively used during his three-year spell, and helping the Lisbon outfit to the 1995 Portuguese Cup.

After two seasons with Guimarães' Vitória Sport Clube, Capucho joined Futebol Clube do Porto, being a major part of a side that won three league titles and the 2002–03 UEFA Cup (starting in the final against Celtic^[2]). His worst domestic output came precisely in that season, scoring four goals in 27 matches as the northerners won the treble.

Capucho would leave Porto prior to its UEFA Champions League conquest, having appeared in nearly 250 official games with the club. He retired in 2004 at the age of 32, after unassuming spells with Rangers – in a season completely devoid of silveware^[3]– and Celta de Vigo (in the Spanish second level).

In the 2007 summer, Capucho returned to Porto, being charged with training its junior teams for several years.

International career

With 34 caps for Portugal, Capucho played more defensively for the nation than while at Porto,^[1] appearing at UEFA Euro 2000 (two late substitute appearances and a start against Germany, when Portugal was already qualified) and 2002 FIFA World Cup (replacing Sérgio Conceição in the 4–0 thrashing of Poland).

After Luiz Felipe Scolari took over as national team boss, in early 2003, he was never called again. In 1991, Capucho only missed one game as the under-20 (which also included João Vieira Pinto, Rui Costa and Luís Figo) won the FIFA World Cup, played on home soil.^[4]

Nuno Capucho: International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	5 June 1999	Estádio José Alvalade (1956), Lisbon, Portugal	Slovakia	1–0	1–0	Euro 2000 qualifying
2	2 June 2000	Estádio Municipal de Chaves, Chaves, Portugal	Wales	3–0	3–0	Friendly

Honours

Club

Sporting

• Portuguese Cup: 1994–95

Porto

• Portuguese League: 1997–98, 1998–99, 2002–03
• Portuguese Cup: 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03
• Portuguese Supercup: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002
• UEFA Cup: 2002–03

Country

• FIFA U-20 World Cup: 1991

References

1. ^ ^{a b} 2002 World Cup profile; BBC Sport
2. ^ UEFA Cup final player ratings; BBC Sport, 21 May 2003
3. ^ Capucho joins Rangers; BBC Sport, 17 June 2003
4. ^ Capucho (footballer) – FIFA competition record

External links

• Stats and profile at Zerozero
• Stats at ForaDeJogo (Portuguese)
• Capucho (footballer) career stats at Soccerbase
• BDFutbol profile
• Capucho (footballer) at National-Football-Teams.com

Persondata
Name	Capucho
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1972-02-21
Place of birth	Barcelos, Portugal
Date of death
Place of death