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Players: Abel Freddy Adu H. Almeida Bruno Alves Anderson J. Andrade N. Assis Vitor Baia Boa Morte Bosingwa M. Caneira Cardozo R. Carvalho Ze Castro Jorge Costa Rui Costa Conceicao Costinha F. Couto M. da Costa Dady Deco Di Maria Y. Djalo Duda M. Fernandes P. Ferreira Luis Figo Luis Filipe Nuno Gomes L. Gonzalez Helton Izmailov Karagounis Katsouranis Liedson L. Lopez Luisao David Luiz Makukula Maniche Mantorras F. Meira R. Meireles P. Mendes Miguel Miguelito Moreira J. Moutinho Nani Nelson Pauleta C. Peixoto Pepe Petit Pereirinha Joao Pinto H. Postiga Polga Quaresma Quim Ricardo R. Rocha C. Rodriguez Ronaldo Romagnoli P. Sousa Simao Tarik Tiago J. Tomas Tonel Miguel Veloso Hugo Viana Vukcevic Abel Xavier Select player

Player profile: Nuno Assis

Full name: Nuno Assis Lopes Miranda

Position: Midfielder

Date of Birth: 25 November 1977

Birthplace: Lousa, Portugal

A promising future mixed with an unfortunate past is the best way to sum up the career thus far of Nuno Assis. Once heralded as one of the brightest midfielders in Portuguese football, the Benfica player has so far earned more renown for off-field controversy than his on-field achievements.

After steadily honing his talents in the lower leagues with his hometown club of Lourinhanense, Sporting Lisbon recognised the crafty skills of the midfielder and signed him in 1999. Loan spells at Alverca and Gil Vicente followed, but he failed to convince the Lisbon club of a permanent stay, and he was sold to Guimaraes without making a single appearance for the Lions.

A new club and a new start saw Assis grab the opportunity by the throat. He was a regular for three seasons racking up over 100 appearances and scoring 9 goals. In 2004/05 Assis was enjoying another fine season, scoring two brilliant goals in a virtuoso performance to single-handedly knock FC Porto out of the Portuguese Cup. Benfica had seen enough and made a mid-season swoop for the creative midfielder.

Championship triumph

The dream move for Nuno Assis was sealed and he quickly gained the confidence of coach Giovanni Trapattoni, making a vital contribution during the second half of the season as the club broke a barren 11 years without a championship triumph.

The following season started with a bang as well as Benfica picked up the Portuguese Super Cup. Assis was on schedule to have another good campaign as he made 10 appearances under new coach Ronald Koeman up to the winter break, before the player’s world caved in. He failed a random doping test after a match against Maritimo on 3 December 2005.

Assis pleaded his innocence and received vigorous support from the infuriated Benfica president, Luis Filipe Vieira, who claimed that the testing laboratory delayed the tests too long, causing the samples to become degraded and leading to inaccurate results.

A messy and drawn-out legal battle ensued involving the Portuguese Football Federation, the National Anti-Doping Council, the Uefa Control and Disciplinary Body and the World Anti-Doping Agency, but the upshot was Assis was forced to sit out one season.

Back in action since the tail end of 2006/07, the skilled midfielder is keen to get back into his rhythm and form a strong understanding with Rui Costa that will certainly be pleasing on the eye for all fans of cultured football.

CLUB APPEARANCES* GOALS Louinhanense 59 23 Alverca 19 0 Gil Vicente 26 2 Guimaraes 108 11 Benfica** 36 2       PORTUGAL 4 0

* League only
** Up to January 2008