Nuno Gomes to join Benfica staff

Lisbon: Former Portuguese international striker Nuno Gomes is set to take up a role as deputy to Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira in the club’s international section, the Portuguese league leaders announced on Tuesday.

The 37-year-old spent 12 seasons with Benfica — interrupted by two seasons following a €17 million (Dh86 million) move to Italian Serie A club Fiorentina.

He arrived in Lisbon in 1997 from Boavista and scored 166 goals for Benfica, winning two league crowns, a Portuguese Cup, three League Cups and Super Cup titles.

Gomes — who scored 29 goals in his 79 international appearances and was a member of the team that reached the Euro 2004 final in Portugal only to lose to Greece — finally left Lisbon in 2011 for Sporting Braga before joining English club Blackburn Rovers.