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Hélder Postiga
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Hélder Manuel Marques Postiga (born August 2, 1982 in Vila do Conde) is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a striker for Sporting Clube de Portugal.
iga started his career at northern side Varzim S.C.. He later joined the F.C. Porto's youth teams and continued to progress until he got to the senior B-team. At the time, coach Octávio Machado picked him for the first team on some occasions and Postiga performed well.
After José Mourinho assumed command of the team, Postiga exploded.
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Encyclopedia
Hélder Manuel Marques Postiga (born August 2, 1982 in Vila do Conde) is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a striker for Sporting Clube de Portugal.
Club career
Postiga started his career at northern side Varzim S.C.. He later joined the F.C. Porto's youth teams and continued to progress until he got to the senior B-team. At the time, coach Octávio Machado picked him for the first team on some occasions and Postiga performed well.
After José Mourinho assumed command of the team, Postiga exploded. He scored 13 goals in 2002-03 (before completing his 21st birthday) and soon became a star in FC Porto's frontline, alongside Derlei. Postiga had also earned a permanent selection for the Portuguese under-21 team by this time.
After winning the 2003 national championship, Postiga went to English club Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of around £5.5 million. He failed to adapt to the English style of football, only managing to score two goals, one in the league against Liverpool and one in the Carling Cup against Manchester City. As a result, his reputation as an upcoming star drastically decreased.
Postiga then returned to FC Porto in a deal that sent Pedro Mendes to Tottenham in exchange. Porto coach Víctor Fernández included Postiga in the team for the 2004-05 campaign. Postiga had another disappointing season, but following José Couceiro's appointment as coach, he managed to score three goals before the end of the season. In 2005, after a promising pre-season, he was demoted to the club's B team, because new coach Co Adriaanse was not happy with his performances. In January 2006, to try to confirm his position in the Portuguese team for the 2006 World Cup, he moved, on loan, to AS Saint-Étienne, where he scored two French League goals.
He then returned to Porto for 2006-07 where, due to the managerial changes at the club, he found himself back in the first team. Postiga's first few games were a huge improvement from his 2005-06 form. A regular starter for the team, he nonetheless fell out of favour towards the end of the season, losing his place to Brazilian Adriano. However, he still managed to score ten league goals.
In January 2008, after having again fallen out of favour, Postiga moved to Panathinaikos FC for a six-month loan period. His first goal for the club came in the Athens derby against AEK Athens FC, in which he equalised (1-1).
On June 1, 2008, it was announced that Postiga had made a shock move to Portuguese rivals Sporting Clube de Portugal, signing a 3-year contract for a reported transfer fee of €2.5 million.On September 1, he netted his first club goal, the only in a victory at Sporting de Braga.
Club statistics
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|2001-02||rowspan="2"|FC Porto||rowspan="2"|Portuguese League||27||9||||||||||||||||
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|2002-03||31||13||||||||||||||||
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|2003-04||Tottenham Hotspur||Premier League||19||1||||||||||||||||
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|2004-05||rowspan="2"|FC Porto||rowspan="2"|Portuguese League||24||3||||||||||||||||
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|2005-06||2||0||||||||||||||||
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|2005-06||Saint-Étienne||French League||16||2||||||||||||||||
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|2006-07||rowspan="2"|FC Porto||rowspan="2"|Portuguese League||24||10||||||||||||||||
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|2007-08||5||1||||||||||||||||
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|2007-08||Panathinaikos||Greek League||10||2||||||||||||||||
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|2008-09||Sporting CP||Portuguese League||15||3||||||||||||||||
128||39||||||||||||||||
19||1||||||||||||||||
16||2||||||||||||||||
11||2||||||||||||||||
158||41||||||||||||||||
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International career
A Portuguese international since 2003, Postiga managed to save the side from defeat against England during the 2004 European Championships, scoring a late equalizer, as Portugal would prevail in the penalty shootout. He was subsequently summoned for the 2006 World Cup side, starting against Mexico in a 2-1 win.
In Euro 2008's quarterfinals, he also scored a late goal against Germany, although Portugal lost 3-2.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
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| 1. | June 10, 2003 | Lisbon, Portugal | | 3-0 | | Friendly | | 2. | June 10, 2003 | Lisbon, Portugal | | 4-0 | | Friendly | | 3. | June 5, 2004 | Estádio do Bonfim, Setúbal, Portugal | | 4-1 | | Friendly | | 4. | June 24, 2004 | Lisbon, Portugal | | 1-1 | | UEFA Euro 2004 | | 5. | August 19, 2004 | Pankritio Stadium, Heraklio, Athens | | 2-4 | | 2004 Olympic Games | | 6. | September 8, 2004 | Lisbon, Portugal | | 2-0 | | 2006 World Cup Qualifying | | 7. | September 8, 2004 | Lisbon, Portugal | | 4-0 | | 2006 World Cup Qualifying | | 8. | March 26, 2005 | Lisbon, Portugal | | 3-0 | | Friendly | | 9. | March 30, 2005 | Lisbon, Portugal | | 1-1 | | 2006 World Cup Qualifying | | 10. | June 2, 2007 | Koning Boudewijn Stadion, Brussels, Belgium | | 2-1 | | UEFA Euro 2008 Qualifying | | 11. | June 19, 2008 | St. Jakob Park, Basel, Switzerland | | 2-3 | | UEFA Euro 2008 | |
Honours
- Intercontinental Cup: 2004
- UEFA Cup: 2002-03
- Portuguese League: 2002-03, 2005-06, 2006-07
- Portuguese Cup: 2002-03
- Portuguese SuperCup: 2004, 2008
External links
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