Luis Boa Morte

Date of Birth : 14th August 1977 Place of Birth : Lisbon, Portugal Signed : January 2007 (Fulham) Position : Forward Height : 5.10 Weight : 11.05 Appearances: 50 (30) Goals : 1 International Appearances : 25 (2)

Sky Sports: The opener came in the 33rd minute. Luis Boa Morte held the ball up and played Herita Ilunga down the left. The full-back's cross went between Justin Hoyte and Huth, then Cole sent the ball back in the direction it came - between the two defenders but this time into the corner of the net.

Hammer's Diary: I never thought I would say this, but Boa Morte had me on my feet clapping and cheering at one point, when he won the ball then dribbled half the length of the pitch. I hope you are sitting down for this, but I make Boa Morte my man of the match. See, I can be objective!

KUMB: The first goal came on 33 minutes and it was a thing of beauty. Cole fed Boa-Morte who held the ball up well. LBM’s ball inside the full back was a joy to behold and Ilunga’s first-time low cross across the box found Cole totally unmarked at the back post for a fine finish. Excellent goal, and one of the sort we like to see at the Boleyn. (Gordon Thrower)

Sky Sports: Their progress was undone when Boa Morte suffered a nightmare 30 seconds which resulted in conceding a penalty just before the break. He was furious that no free-kick was given when Javier Mascherano brought him down, then chased back to own penalty area and hauled down Torres when Yossi Benayoun scooped the ball through. Green saved Gerrard's spot-kick but the rebound fell to the Liverpool captain to tap home.

KUMB: On 36 minutes Mascherano upended Boa-Morte. That it was a foul was no question. Well unless you happened to be something of a brain donor of course. Or a highly-paid premiership referee from the so-called “Select” group. Unfortunately in Wiley the two are combined and, despite having the best view in the house of the incident, he waved play on. Play moved up the other end and, in a move almost identical to Skrtel’s earlier foul on Tomkins, an obviously incensed LBM tugged on Torres’ shirt. Although the initial contact looked to be outside the box, Torres ensured that his fall took place well inside and Wiley looked overjoyed to be pointing at the spot. In the space of 36 minutes he’d ignored a penalty offence in the box, given one for an offence that took place outside, given a free-kick for a clean challenge that won the ball and failed to give one for a cynical lunge that didn’t. An average of one major error every 9 minutes is some going – even by the poor standards that Keith Hackett deems acceptable these days. Green saved the penalty well to his right but the deflection was cruel and Gerrard had the easiest tap-in from the rebound to give the visitors a 2-0 lead that flattered them.

The Guardian: Among the other issues Zola will have to tackle upon his arrival at the club's Chadwell Heath training base today are how to keep the seemingly jinxed Dean Ashton free from injury - he had to be withdrawn after 19 minutes on Saturday after tearing his ear open and requiring several stitches after a collision with Leon Barnett - and seeing if there is any way Luis Boa Morte can rediscover the form and confidence that persuaded West Ham to pay Fulham £5m for him almost three years ago. The Portuguese midfielder was again irrelevant here. (Sachin Nakrani )

KB: KUMB; HM Hammers Mad; ST Sunday Times; SE Sunday Express; SM Sunday Mirror; OB Observer;
DM Daily Mirror; GU Guardian; TM Times; HD Hammers Diary; SK Sky; DE Daily Express

KUMB: Then there was Luis Boa Morte. Now he can’t tackle. You know it. I know it. It appears that the only person in the world who knows it is the man himself. To be fair to him it looked like he’d actually won the ball for the challenge that gave him his initial yellow card. However, even if that were the case, you’d think he’d have the nous to figure that if he was going to pick up a card for a challenge that had won the ball, the ref sure as hell wasn’t going to worry too much about issuing a second. It certainly occurred to Spurs who started targeting him at corners. They needn’t have bothered. The ref allowed play to continue after one reckless slide failed to connect with anyone but a late and pointless lunge at Lennon was the final straw and out popped the second yellow and off went LBM. A few seconds before the red card I had proffered the opinion that LBM wouldn’t be on for the second half. I was, unfortunately, right – though I had a substitution more in mind if I’m honest. (Gordon Thrower, 10th March, 2008)

Daily Mirror: At least, according to Curbishley, Boa Morte had shown determination amid his madness, even if it meant West Ham played the second half with 10 men, although he added: "What could go wrong is going wrong at the moment." But Curbishley could have got stuck into most of his players as they simply did not turn up. It was little wonder the West Ham fans were chanting midway through the first half: "You're s*** if you can't beat us 4-0." (John Cross, 10th March, 2008)

The Times: With Boa Morte booked and continuing to get involved in niggling fouls, things looked distinctly unpromising for the visiting team. Sure enough, the Portuguese was shown a second yellow card after 44 minutes for a foul on Aaron Lennon. Curbishley declined to offer him a consoling handshake on his way off, but the manager should have seen it coming – everyone else inside White Hart Lane had – and withdrawn him. “He was on thin ice, but he’s an experienced player and I was hoping to get through to half-time and settle him down,” Curbishley said. “I asked for more application and he has been done for his persistence.” (Nick Szczepanik, 10th March, 2008)

Hammers Mad: With the Black Cats showing their claws, Curbishley made a double switch as Nobby Solano stepped from the bench make his debut alongside Luis Boa Morte. It proved an inspired choice. For on 77 minutes, the Eastenders enjoyed a huge slice of luck when those two fresh pairs of legs galvanised Hammers into a match-winning lead after Boa Morte's left-wing cross arrived at the feet of Solano, whose shot cannoned back off the base of Gordon's left-hand upright and back into the net off the grounded keeper's heel. That was tough on Sunderland, who endured further agony in stoppage time, when Bellamy drilled home Boa Morte's unselfish cut back to seal a welcome victory for West Ham. (14th October, 2007)

Daily Telegraph: A much-needed change of personnel brought a much-needed change of luck for West Ham United. When manager Alan Curbishley introduced substitutes Nolberto Solano and Luis Boa Morte for the last quarter of an hour, his decision was greeted by chants of 'you don't know what you're doing' by a section of the home support.... Enter Solano for his West Ham debut and Boa Morte, who has been out of favour since the opening day of the season. With less than 15 minutes to go, Craig Bellamy broke clear and fed Boa Morte on the left flank, and when the excellent Nyron Nosworthy failed to deal with his cut-back, Solano dispatched a crisp shot against the foot of a post. As the ball rebounded, it hit the trailing leg of the diving Gordon and found its way into the net. It was a heartbreaking, game-breaking moment for Sunderland. The goal settled West Ham players and supporters alike. Boa Morte combined smoothly with McCartney, and following their exchange of passes, the Frenchman crossed for Bellamy to poke in a flattering third goal. Boa Morte might even have added a fourth but for Gordon's defiance as West Ham clambered back into the top half of the Premier League table.

The Times: Curbishley did not shake up his side until the final 15 minutes, but it proved crucial. Nolberto Solano was signed in August but Curbishley had not deployed him until yesterday. It was a memorable debut. With 12 minutes left, Nyron Nosworthy failed to clear, the ball broke to the former Newcastle United winger on the right side of the area and his low drive evaded Craig Gordon’s dive, pinged off the post and out. But only as far as the prone body of Gordon. The ball rebounded off his foot and returned to the goal. “He’s been at the club for five weeks but four have been international breaks, he’s only trained five times,” Curbishley said. “He’s got a great first touch, he brings people into the game.” Great first touch is right: the shot that hit the post was the Peruvian’s first sight of the ball in West Ham colours. In injury time, as Sunderland left gaps, Luis Boa Morte pulled the ball back from the byline and Craig Bellamy nipped between two defenders to finish off the pass. There was still time for Gordon to make a fine save from Boa Morte when the substitute was clean through. Then the final whistle and warm applause from the home fans, a section of whom had chanted “you don’t know what you’re doing” at Curbishley 20 minutes earlier. The manager was entitled to a rueful smile about that afterwards. With his substitutions, he had made his own luck. (Tom Dart, 15th October, 2007)

KUMB: The vacuous first half performance did elicit a positive move from the manager with a double substitution. The lacklustre pass-weary Bowyer was replaced by Hayden Mullins (a fan behind me remarked, “It was that bad out there that you feel relieved to see Mullins”) and a true wide player in the shape of Matty was introduced for the largely absent Boa. (East Stand Martin, 13th August)

Hammers Diary: Boa Morte was as bad as I have seen him. Indeed, I have never seen him have what you could call a good game. At half time Curbishley subbed Bowyer and Boa Morte and brought on Etherington and Mullins. The first twenty minutes of the second half showed a little promise. Etherington constantly raced down the left and crossed the ball, only to find no one there. Etherington did more in the first five minutes of the second half than Boa Morte had done in the entire first half. Boa Morte didn’t seem to realise he was on the left and constantly went in field. It was left to Bellamy to ply his trade down the left. But when Dean Ashton came on... Curbishley brought off McCartney (who headed straight down the tunnel) and unbelievably moved Etherington to left back. After that he disappeared. (Iain Dale, 11th August)

BBC Sport: West Ham have signed Fulham captain Luis Boa Morte for an undisclosed fee, thought to be about £5m. The 29-year-old Portugal striker had been linked with Newcastle and Benfica, but has become Alan Curbishley's first signing since arriving at West Ham. Boa Morte said he was not worried by the club's lowly position. He said: "That did not put me off. "I'm confident West Ham can have a good second half to the season and we can pull ourselves out of trouble." (5th January, 2007)