Consolation prize for Nuno Gomes

Nuno Gomes became only the fourth player to score in three UEFA European Championship final tournaments with his goal in Portugal's 3-2 quarter-final defeat by Germany.

Scant comfort
Despite his country's elimination, the 31-year-old SL Benfica striker joined an exclusive club of scorers that includes Vladimír Šmicer, Jürgen Klinsmann and Thierry Henry. Nuno Gomes netted four times on his debut UEFA European Championship appearance in the Netherlands and Belgium in 2000, and struck once in Portugal's charge to the UEFA EURO 2004™ final on home soil. The captain's goal against Germany was the 29th of his 72-cap international career, though it brought scant consolation after the reverse in Basel that ended the Portugal's campaign.

Elite company
France forward Henry, who gained the same distinction at these finals with his only goal – in the 4-1 group loss to the Netherlands – registered three times in 2000 to help Les Bleus capture the Henri Delaunay trophy and put away two more four years later in Portugal. Šmicer, meanwhile, scored once in 1996, twice in 2000 and notched another in 2004. For his part, Klinsmann claimed his UEFA European Championship scoring hat-trick by finding the net in 1988, 1992 and 1996 – helping Germany, under Berti Vogts, win the cup for the third time in the last tournament.