Luís Boa Morte

Luís Boa Morte Pereira (born 4 August 1977) is a Portuguese football coach and a former professional football player who played as an attacking winger, forward and centre midfielder.

Having come through the youth ranks with Sporting CP, Boa Morte joined Premier League side Arsenal in 1997.

He went on to play in England's top flight for Southampton, Fulham and West Ham United.

He made his debut on 23 August 1997 as a substitute against Southampton.

During Arsenal's double winning 1997–98 season, he made 15 league appearances, mostly as substitute and four in the FA Cup, although he did not appear in the final itself.

He scored two goals this season, with both coming in a League Cup tie against Birmingham City.

The following season, he was a fairly regular squad member, usually as substitute in the early part of the season, with a few European Cup appearances, including against Panathinaikos on 9 December 1998, when he scored Arsenal's third goal.

His fourth and final Arsenal goal came against Preston North End in the FA Cup.

He came on as a substitute as Arsenal won the 1999 FA Charity Shield.

His final appearance for Arsenal was as a second-half substitute away to Sunderland on 14 August 1999.

In his season at The Dell, he made a total of 17 appearances, mostly as substitute, with one goal – a thundering left foot drive at Watford in a 2–3 defeat on 28 December 1999.

In his first season at Fulham, he helped Jean Tigana's side win the 2000–01 Division 1, making 39 league appearances and scoring 18 goals as Fulham ran away with the Championship with a total of 101 points.

Part of the Portugal national team from 2001 to 2009, Boa Morte earned 28 caps for Portugal.

His contributions to the championship-winning season resulted in him being signed permanently in June 2001 (on a fee of £1.7 million paid to Arsenal), despite Southampton's attempts to bring him back after the expiry of the loan arrangement.

In Fulham's first two seasons in the Premiership, he was not able to replicate his form of the Championship-winning season, scoring only three goals, although his form returned to some extent in 2003–04, since when he averaged eight goals per season.

He gave away all of his kit to the fans on the last game of the season, including his shorts.

He was selected for the 2004 Olympics and the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Born in Lisbon to parents from São Tomé and Príncipe, Boa Morte started his professional career with Sporting Clube de Portugal.

Boa Morte made his debut in English football for Arsenal when he became one of Arsène Wenger's first signings for the club, joining for a fee of £1.75 million.

He was also voted Player of the Season for 2004–05 and got the nickname Dead Snake as joking mistranslation of his surname.

Boa Morte accused Everton forward Duncan Ferguson of racial abuse after an FA Cup fourth round match in January 2004.

The accusation was dismissed by the Football Association, who found insufficient evidence.

In August 2005 Boa Morte was made team captain.

On 19 March 2006, he scored the only goal in the 1–0 win over league leaders and reigning champions Chelsea in the West London derby at Craven Cottage; it was Fulham's first win over their neighbours since 1979.

He became a favourite amongst Fulham's supporters whilst he played for them, for his impassioned, never-say-die and sometimes aggressive style of play – although this led to problems with referees.

Even though his form dipped towards the end of his Fulham career, he was considered something of a cult hero there due to his ability to take players on, his ability to "cause panic like an unpinned grenade in the opposition ranks", and his "emotional character, a trait that strengthened the bond between him and the fans".

Boa Morte signed for West Ham United in January 2007 on a three and a half year contract for an undisclosed fee, which was believed to be around £5 million.

He played his first game for the Hammers in an FA Cup tie against Brighton & Hove Albion, setting up two goals and on 13 January 2007 in the Premier League against former team Fulham.

On 28 April 2007, he scored his first goal for the club in an important 3–0 win against Wigan Athletic at the JJB Stadium.

On 29 July 2009, Boa Morte picked up a serious injury in the pre-season friendly against Tottenham Hotspur.

West Ham were playing in the Barclays Asia Trophy in Beijing when Boa Morte got his studs stuck in the ground, twisted his knee and suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Boa Morte made his comeback from injury on 13 April 2010, playing 45 minutes in a reserve team 4–1 defeat by Wolves reserves.

Making an appearance in the first team for the first time since the end of 2008–09 season he opened the scoring for West Ham against Manchester City in a 1–1 draw on 9 May 2010.

It was his first goal for West Ham for over three years.

In June 2010, West Ham Chairman David Sullivan announced that Boa Morte had been offered a new deal as his contract was due to finish at the end of the 2009–10 season.

On 17 June 2010, Boa Morte signed a new two-year contract saying that he was looking forward to working with new West Ham manager, Avram Grant for the next two seasons.

He was released in 2011 and joined Greek side Larissa before moving on to South African club Orlando Pirates.

In August 2011 Boa Morte's contract with West Ham was cancelled by mutual consent.

In August 2011 Boa Morte signed a two-year contract with AEL.

In October 2012, he returned to England and joined fourth-tier side Chesterfield.