GREGORY`S GOAL GUY GOMES

REPORTS linking Portuguese ace Nuno Gomes to a summer move to the Premiership with Aston Villa will be the last thing on the 23-year-old's mind as he prepares to help Portugal win a European Championship semi-final clash for the first time in their history.

Ironically, the only other time Portugal reached this stage of the tournament was back in 1984, when tonight's opponents France beat them in a closely fought contest in Marseille.

Sixteen years on and Humberto Coelho's men finally get a chance to avenge their 3-2 reverse by pulling off their own 'coup d'etat' on the current world champions.

Gomes has been the centre of transfer speculation away from his current club Benfica and Villa Park is generally accepted as the most likely destination for the skilful striker.

With Villa manager boss John Gregory seeing the Portuguese star first hand during his summer job of being a television pundit during Euro 2000, he would have undoubtedly been impressed with the youngster's prodigious talent.

Portugal's pacy forward has found the back of the net three times - including an adroit finish to complete his side's outstanding comeback against England - and hit two more shots on target. In addition, an excellent 62% of Gomes' efforts have been spot on displaying the accuracy of the Portu-geezer.

Although Gomes has been instrumental in Portugal's stunning run into the semi-finals of Euro 2000, Coelho, and indeed the watching scouts, may have picked up on the fact that the attacker has failed to play more of a part in Portugal's goalscoring aside from his three strikes.

With no assists or key passes to his name, Gomes has also disappointed when he has drifted out onto the flanks, with all three of his crosses missing their intended destination.

However, it is as a hit-man that Gomes is used and being Portugal's joint top-scorer along with Lazio star Sergio Conceicao is a good return for the Benfica player.

Certainly, he would have impressed Gregory with his neat interplay and composure on the ball and finding a team-mate with 85% of his passes is a quality that is irresistible on the international stage.

It seems unlikely that Gomes will leave Benfica for the West Midlands club, but the youthful attacker has proved during Euro 2000 that he would be an admirable acquisition for most Premiership teams.

Certainly, he will play an integral role in Portugal's extensive efforts to reach the first European Championship final in their history.