The Luso-Danish connection regarding the 26-year-old Porto midfielder, full name Nuno Ricardo Oliveira Riberio, goes back to 1983.

It was then that Danish journeyman Michael Manniche joined Benfica, with whom he went on to win two Portuguese league titles and after whom Maniche takes his nickmame.

Friends of Maniche, who initially failed to make a major impression after coming through the ranks with Benfica, joke that he and Manniche look similar, but the Dane says of his quasi-namesake: "He is not as tall as me, nor as much of a specialist in the air as I was.

"But he is much better on the ground - he is a key player for the team," Record daily Saturday quoteôd Manniche as saying.

FIGO LOSE OUT TO GAYS!
Luis Figo's loss of form seems to have affected his popularity with the Portuguese homosexual community as he has tumbled from number one in their poll according to figures released on Saturday on the website portugalgay.pt.

The 31-year-old, married to a Swedish model, has seen his goldenboy image stolen by the angelic looking 19-year-old winger Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo topped the poll with 14 percent of the votes, a percentage point ahead of Nuno Gomes, who became a national hero when he scored the only goal in the victory over bitter rivals Spain in the group stage, while rugged striker Pauleta was third with 12 percent.

Figo, whose substitution by coach Luiz Felipe Scolari in the nailbiting victory over England in the quarter-finals led to him storming down the tunnel and sulking in the dressingroom, trailed in in fifth place with just nine percent.

A slight consolation for Figo is that the Brazilian-born midfielder Deco, who he claimed should not be in the team because he would not have the same commitment as someone born in Portugal, was way behind in the popularity stakes with 2 percent.