15:53  ,  July 17, 2019

Ex-Portuguese player Nuno Gomes visits Armenian Genocide memorial complex

By Lusine Shahbazyan

Former Portugal player Nuno Gomes is in Yerevan. The famous football player visited the Armenian Genocide memorial complex and laid flowers at the eternal flame.

“I am in Armenia with a private visit, at the invitation of a friend. I am glad to be here again. Thank you for your hospitality. Here I will have a meeting with the Feedconstruct organization. Cooperation with the League of Portugal is scheduled,” he said adding that he also decided to visit Yerevan as Armenia is hosted Euro-2019.

“I know little about Armenia, but it is a great honor for me to be here. The people here are very hospitable, warm and kind. Armenians and Portuguese are alike. I see that the country is flourishing, the state pays great attention to the sport, which is the most important thing for me. I also noticed that Armenian football is developing. You have talented young football players. It is very important to pay great attention to youth football to have a strong national team in the future,” said Nuno Gomes.

Portuguese footballer arrived in Armenia with his brother. He decided to visit the Armenian Genocide Memorial.

“Having heard the history of the Armenians, I wanted to visit this memorial,” he said.

Nuno Gomes also said he would attend the Portugal-Spain clash today.

The football player also spoke about Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

“He is the best football player in Armenia. I also know Gevorg Ghazaryan, who performed in Portugal, and I like Marcos Pizzelli, who was born in Brazil. Once again I want to note that the basis for the development of Armenian football is the development of youth football,” he added.

Nuno Gomes also visited the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, where he left a journal entry.

“I wrote that it is very important to have such a museum-institute to always remember what happened. Such a crime should never happen again…One should never forget what happened to the Armenians that year,” he said. “I will refrain from any political comments, as I have never been interested in politics: football is out of politics. But what happened to the Armenians is very painful. We must not forget it and pay tribute to the victims.”

Photos by Emma Asatryan

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