A talented footballer gunned down at his home on a West Norwood estate has been remembered as “quiet and kind” by devastated family and friends.

Portuguese Ricardo Cunha, 23, was shot dead with a single bullet to the head as he looked out from a first-floor window of his flat in the Wood Vale estate, off Elder Road, on Saturday night.

His uncle, Carlos Amarral, said Mr Cunha had been watching TV with his girlfriend when he went to investigate a noise outside his front door.

Police believe the shot or shots were fired from outside the home he shared with his mother.

Officers have not ruled out the possibility of the murder being a case of mistaken identity, as police believe the killing was a targeted attack.

However, they have admitted they are struggling to find a motive. Mr Cunha was unknown to police.

Mr Amarral said: “We are all in shock.

“We cannot understand how this could have happened to Ricardo, he was a family person, quiet and kind. He would play football, go to work and come home, that’s it.”

He said Mr Cunha’s mother, Maria, had struggled to eat and sleep and was devastated by the loss of her son.

Since the murder she has moved, with Ricardo’s sister Lilly, to stay with Mr Amarral in Kennington.

The family are planning to bury him alongside his father in a family plot in Viseu, Portugal.

Friends said the football fanatic and Arsenal fan was the star striker of amateur team FC Cultural, which trains in Vauxhall.

They are planning to hold a memorial match to remember him.

Friend Danielle Edwards, 23, who knew Mr Cunha from growing up in West Norwood, said: “We don’t know why this has happened.

“He has never been in trouble with anyone. All we know at the moment is we will miss him.”

Loved-ones left tributes to Mr Cunha at the crime scene and held a vigil for him on Sunday.

They have also set up a tribute site on Facebook.

Neighbours on the estate said they were shocked by the murder.

Resident Kouku D’almeida said: “There are no problems here at all, This is a quiet place.”

A resident told the Streatham Guardian people had heard what they thought was a firework and footsteps running off before police arrived.

Police said they were called to reports of a shot or shots fired near the flat in Pondfield House at 11.20pm.

The London Ambulance Service also attended, but Mr Cunha was pronounced dead at the scene.

A postmortem examination on Sunday, at Greenwich Mortuary, gave the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the head.

Forensics officers were carrying out a fingertip search of the area on Monday, and large parts of the block were still cordoned off.

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Scola from the Metropolitan Police’s homicide and serious crime command is leading the murder inquiry.

He said: “We are still trying to establish the motive for this murder and would encourage anyone with information to come forward.”

If you have any information call the incident room on 020 8721 4005, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.