Nuno Rocha (Cape Verdean footballer)

Not to be confused with Nuno Rocha (Portuguese footballer).

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Monteiro and the second or paternal family name is Rocha.

Nuno Miguel Monteiro Rocha (born 25 March 1992) is a Cape Verdean former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Nuno Rocha

Rocha with Tosno in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Nuno Miguel Monteiro Rocha[1]
Date of birth	(1992-03-25) 25 March 1992 (age 33)[1]
Place of birth	Praia, Cape Verde[1]
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
2010–2011	Marítimo
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2014	Marítimo B	85	(8)
2013–2014	Marítimo	15	(1)
2014–2017	Universitatea Craiova	92	(22)
2017–2018	Tosno	27	(0)
2018–2019	Universitatea Craiova	16	(2)
Total		235	(33)
International career
2014–2019	Cape Verde	25	(3)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Marítimo

Born in Praia, Rocha moved to Portugal with C.S. Marítimo for his last year as a junior. He spent the vast majority of his first three senior seasons with the reserves, competing with them in both the second and third divisions.^[2]

Rocha made his Primeira Liga debut with the first team on 7 October 2013, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 away loss against Vitória de Guimarães.^[3] He scored his first goal in the competition the following 16 February, the game's only at home to Vitória de Setúbal.^[4]

Universitatea Craiova

In June 2014, Rocha signed with Romanian club CS Universitatea Craiova.^[5][6] His maiden appearance in Liga I took place on 25 July, as he came on as a second-half substitute in a 1–1 home draw with CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu.^[7]

In the 2015–16 season, Rocha scored a career-best nine goals to help his team to finish in eighth position. His teammates included compatriots Kay and Rambé,^[8] and he was released from contract on 11 April 2017.^[9]

Tosno

On 7 June 2017, Rocha joined Russian Premier League side FC Tosno on a three-year deal.^[10] He helped them win the domestic cup in his only season, scoring the decisive penalty kick in the semi-final shootout against FC Spartak Moscow^[11] and also being featured in the decisive match against FC Avangard Kursk at the Volgograd Arena.^[12]

International career

Rocha earned his first cap for Cape Verde on 6 September 2014, in a 3–1 away win over Niger for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. Selected for the finals by manager Rui Águas,^[13] he took part in all three group-phase games, which ended in draw and subsequent elimination.^[14][15][16]

On 1 September 2017, Rocha scored twice to hand his team a 2–1 defeat of South Africa, their first ever win against their African counterparts.^[17]

Career statistics

Club

As of 13 May 2018^[18][19]

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Marítimo B	2011–12	Campeonato de Portugal	29	4	–		–		–		29	4
	2012–13	LigaPro	35	2	–		–		–		35	2
	2013–14		21	2	–		–		–		21	2
	Total		85	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	85	8
Marítimo	2013–14	Primeira Liga	15	1	1	0	–		4[a]	1	20	2
Universitatea Craiova	2014–15	Liga I	30	8	1	0	–		–		31	8
	2015–16		38	9	1	0	–		–		39	9
	2016–17		24	5	2	0	–		1[b]	0	27	5
	Total		92	22	4	0	0	0	1	0	97	22
Tosno	2017–18	Russian Premier League	27	0	3	0	–		–		30	0
Career total			219	31	8	0	0	0	5	1	232	32

1. Four appearances in Taça da Liga
2. One appearance in Cupa Ligii

International goals

Scores and results list Cape Verde's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rocha goal.^[20]

No	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	13 June 2015	Várzea, Praia, Cape Verde	São Tomé and Príncipe	2–0	7–1	2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
2	1 September 2017	Estádio Nacional, Praia, Cape Verde	South Africa	1–1	2–1	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3				2–1

Honours

Tosno

• Russian Cup: 2017–18^[12]