Role Footballer Playing position Height 1.80 m Name Nuno Rocha | 1985–1990 Gil Vicente Current team Varzim S.C. Years Team | |
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Full name Nuno Fernando Goncalves da Rocha Date of birth (1972-02-21) 21 February 1972 (age 43) Similar People Jorge Costa, Rui Barros, Paulinho Santos, Fernando Couto, Vitor Baia | ||
Place of birth Barcelos, Portugal | ||
Nuno Fernando Gonçalves da Rocha (born 21 February 1972), known as Capucho, is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a winger, and a current manager.
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Blessed with both scoring and dribbling ability alike, he also displayed good defensive and tackling skills. 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 Primeira Liga games in 13 seasons, scoring 59 goals.
For Portugal Capucho appeared in one World Cup and one European Championship, both in the early 2000s.
Club career
Capucho was born in Barcelos. After starting with hometown's Gil Vicente F.C. he moved to Sporting Clube de Portugal, where he would be relatively used during his three-year spell, helping the Lisbon team to the 1995 Portuguese Cup.
After two seasons with Guimarães' Vitória SC, Capucho joined FC Porto, being a major part of a side that won three Primeira Liga titles and the 2002–03 UEFA Cup (starting in the final against Celtic). 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 the conquest of the UEFA Champions League, having appeared in nearly 250 official games with the club. He retired in 2004 at the age of 32, after spells with Rangers and Celta de Vigo (in the Spanish Segunda División).
Capucho returned to Porto in the 2007 summer, being charged with training its junior sides for several years. His first job at the professional level occurred in 2015–16, when he led newly promoted Varzim S.C. to the ninth place (from 24 teams) in the Segunda Liga; he subsequently moved to the top flight with neighbours Rio Ave FC, being fired in early November 2016 due to poor results.
International career
With 34 caps for Portugal, Capucho played more defensively for the nation than while at Porto, 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-20s (which also included João Vieira Pinto, Rui Costa and Luís Figo) won the FIFA World Cup, played on home soil.