Nuno Espírito Santo

This name uses Portuguese naming customs. The first or maternal family name is Espírito and the second or paternal family name is Santo.

Nuno

Personal information
Full name	Nuno Herlander Simões Espírito Santo
Date of birth	(1974-01-25) 25 January 1974
Place of birth	São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Rio Ave (coach)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1992–1996	Vitória Guimarães	34	(0)
1993–1994	→ Vila Real (loan)	19	(0)
1997–2002	Deportivo La Coruña	4	(0)
1998–2000	→ Mérida (loan)	69	(0)
2000–2001	→ Osasuna (loan)	33	(0)
2002–2004	Porto	6	(0)
2005–2006	Dynamo Moscow	11	(0)
2007	Aves	15	(0)
2007–2010	Porto	8	(0)
National team
1994–1996	Portugal U21	3	(0)
Teams managed
2012–	Rio Ave
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Nuno Herlander Simões Espírito Santo (born 25 January 1974 in São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe), simply Nuno, is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

During his career, he first made a name for himself in Spain, playing for three teams in five years. He later represented Porto in his country, albeit with little impact, and also played professionally in Russia.

Nuno was part of the Portuguese squad at Euro 2008, but never won a cap for the national team.

Football career

Nuno started his football career with Vitória Sport Clube in Guimarães, battling from age 20 with veteran Neno for first-choice status. In January 1997 he was acquired by La Liga's Deportivo de La Coruña, but would spend three of his six seasons in Galicia on loan, backing up Jacques Songo'o (1996–98) and José Francisco Molina (2001–02) when he was part of the team.

In 1999–2000, as he represented CP Mérida in the Spanish second division, Nuno won the Ricardo Zamora Trophy and helped the side finish sixth, but it would be relegated to the third level due to irregularities.

F.C. Porto paid €3 million to bring Nuno back from Spain in July 2002, as part of Jorge Andrade's deal. During a 2003 Portuguese Cup match against Varzim SC, he was allowed by manager José Mourinho to convert a penalty kick, scoring the club's last goal in a 7–0 home routing. On 12 December 2004, he replaced club great Vítor Baía during extra time of the Intercontinental Cup final penalty shootout victory against Once Caldas; however, in January, he was sold to Russian League's FC Dynamo Moscow.

Again in January, in 2007, Nuno returned to Portugal, for a stint with Clube Desportivo das Aves, eventually relegated from the top flight. In July he returned to Porto, backing up Brazilian Helton.

Uncapped, Nuno was called to the Portuguese squad competing in UEFA Euro 2008, replacing the injured Quim. During 2008–09 he again played second-fiddle to Helton appearing in only four games, but was the starter throughout the domestic cup campaign, including the final win (1–0) against F.C. Paços de Ferreira.

On 21 June 2010, Porto announced Nuno's contract would not be renewed. The 36-year old said he would always support Porto as he left. After his retirement, he rejoined former Porto manager Jesualdo Ferreira, moving to Málaga CF as a goalkeeping coach; the pair signed for Panathinaikos FC in November 2010.

In May 2012, top-divisioner Rio Ave F.C. sacked manager Carlos Brito and announced the appointment of Nuno.

Honours

Team

Deportivo

• Spanish Cup: 2001–02

Porto

• Intercontinental Cup: 2004
• UEFA Cup: 2002–03
• Portuguese League: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2007–08, 2008–09
• Portuguese Cup: 2002–03, 2008–09, 2009–10
• Portuguese Supercup: 2003, 2004, 2009
• Portuguese League Cup: Runner-up 2009–10

Individual

• Zamora Trophy: 1999–2000 (Second Division)

External links

• Nuno Espírito Santo at footballzz.co.uk
• Stats at ForaDeJogo
• Stats at Liga de Fútbol Profesional (Spanish)
• BDFutbol profile