Player Profile: Nuno Valente

Driving forward from the left side of defence, where he is a key cog in the FC Porto machine, Nuno Valente is a great crosser of the ball and has a venomous left-footed shot.

After making a considerable move up from Portimonense SC to Sporting Clube de Portugal in 1994, Nuno Valente spent five years in Lisbon, winning the 1995 Portuguese Cup. He was loaned out to CS Marítimo in 1996/97 and subsequently joined UD Leiria.

His spell at Leiria proved pivotal as he thrived under the management of José Mourinho, who made the adventurous defender and team-mate Derlei his first signings after he moved to Porto.

Nuno Valente repaid his mentor’s faith with some telling displays as Porto won the Portuguese Cup and championship. An injury threatened to keep him out of the UEFA Cup final, but shook it off in time to play in the thrilling victory against Celtic FC, although he was sent off in the final minute. The next season, he helped Porto lift the UEFA Champions League trophy with a 3-0 victory against AS Monaco FC in Gelsenkirchen, and picked up another championship medal.

A late arrival to international football, Nuno Valente first appeared for Portugal against England in September 2002, aged 27. His impressive showings for Porto subsequently made him a regular as Portugal prepared to host the 2004 UEFA European Championship. Indeed, after missing the opening defeat by Greece, he played in every minute of their campaign including the final loss against Otto Rehhagel’s squad. Injuries then disrupted his role as the subsequent FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign kicked off.

In a season plagued by injuries, Nuno Valente played only eight league games, missing out on the entire Champions League group stage. He returned to face FC Internazionale Milano in the last 16, but was unable to prevent the holders being knocked out 4-2 on aggregate.

Now, Nuno fights against another injury to be ready to play this World Cup.