 Postiga as a Porto player in 2007 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Hélder Manuel Marques Postiga | ||
| Date of birth | 2 August 1982 | ||
| Place of birth | Vila do Conde, Portugal | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Valencia | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1993–1996 | Varzim | ||
| 1996–2000 | Porto | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2000–2001 | Porto B | 35 | (10) |
| 2001–2003 | Porto | 58 | (22) |
| 2003–2004 | Tottenham Hotspur | 19 | (1) |
| 2004–2008 | Porto | 56 | (14) |
| 2006 | → Saint-Étienne (loan) | 16 | (2) |
| 2008 | → Panathinaikos (loan) | 14 | (2) |
| 2008–2011 | Sporting CP | 68 | (12) |
| 2011–2013 | Zaragoza | 70 | (23) |
| 2013– | Valencia | 10 | (3) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2002–2003 | Portugal U21 | 16 | (13) |
| 2003– | Portugal | 65 | (27) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 November 2013.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 03:00, 15 October 2013 (UTC) | |||
Hélder Manuel Marques Postiga (born 2 August 1982) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Valencia CF in Spain, as a striker.
After starting professionally at Porto, Postiga went on to have spells in England (one season withTottenham Hotspur), France and Greece (five months apiece), before returning to his country withSporting.
A Portuguese international on more than 60 occasions, Postiga represented the country in one World Cup and three European Championships, helping the national team reach the final at Euro 2004.
Club career
FC Porto
Born in Vila do Conde, Postiga started his career at northern side Varzim SC. In 1998 he joined F.C. Porto's youth teams, and continued to progress until he reached the reserve squad. At the time, coachOctávio Machado picked him for the first team on some occasions and the player performed well.
After José Mourinho was hired as Porto manager, Postiga became a first-team regular. The 20-year-old scored 13 goals in the 2002–03 season, playing up front alongside Derlei. He had also earned a permanent selection for the Portuguese under-21 team by this time – Porto won the league title andthat year's UEFA Cup, but he was not in the squad for the final itself.[1]
Tottenham
After winning the 2003 national championship, Postiga moved to Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur for £6.25 million (€9 million), a fee that could have risen to £8.36 million (€12 million).[2]
He failed to adapt to the English style of football, only managing to score two goals, one in the league against Liverpool[3] and one in the League Cup against Manchester City.[4] As a result, his reputation as an upcoming star drastically decreased.
Porto return
Postiga then returned to Porto in a deal that sent Pedro Mendes to Tottenham in exchange, with the striker being valued at €7.5 million.[5] New coach Víctor Fernández included him in the team for the2004–05 campaign, but he had another disappointing season; however, following José Couceiro's appointment as manager, he managed to score three goals before the end of the season.
In 2005, after a promising pre-season, Postiga was demoted to the club's B-team, because new coachCo Adriaanse was not happy with his performances. In January of the following year, trying to confirm his position in the Portuguese team for the 2006 World Cup, he moved, on loan, to AS Saint-Étienne, where he netted two Ligue 1 goals against FC Metz and Le Mans Union Club 72, both resulting in 1–0 away victories.
Postiga 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 form the previous campaign. 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 mid-January 2008, after having again fallen out of favour, Postiga moved to Panathinaikos for a six-month loan period.[6] His first goal for the club came in the Athens derby against AEK Athens, in which he equalised (1–1).
Sporting
On 1 June 2008, it was announced that Postiga had made a shock move to Portuguese rivals Sporting Clube de Portugal, signing a three-year contract for a reported transfer fee of €2.5 million, with the Lisbon side acquiring 50% of the player's rights.[7] On 1 September he scored his first official goal for his new club, the only in a victory at Sporting de Braga.
Postiga's second season as a Lion was disastrous, both collectively – Sporting finished fourth – and individually (he failed to score in any official competition until 19 April 2010, when he netted the 2–1 home winner against Vitória de Setúbal after just one minute on the pitch); although he began as a starter, he soon lost his job to youth graduate Carlos Saleiro.
Zaragoza
On 31 August 2011, the very last day of the summer transfer window, Postiga left Sporting, signing for Real Zaragozain La Liga for €1 million.[8][9] At the Spanish side, he reunited with countrymen Fernando Meira and Rúben Micael.
After three disallowed goals in as many matches, Postiga opened his scoring account for Zaragoza on 16 October 2011, netting twice in a 2–0 home win against Real Sociedad – this included a bicycle kick in the 11th minute of the game.[10] He finished the season as club top scorer, in an eventual narrow escape from relegation.
On 10 November 2012, Postiga scored a brace to help the Aragonese to a 5–3 defeat of ten-men Deportivo de La Coruña.[11] He netted a career-best 14 goals during the campaign, but his team were relegated.
Valencia
On 8 August 2013, Postiga joined Valencia CF for a fee of £2.6 million, replacing Tottenham-bound Roberto Soldado.[12] On 1 September, in only the third match of the season, he netted twice late into the first half of the game against FC Barcelona at the Mestalla Stadium, but in an eventual 2–3 home loss.[13]
International career
Even though he had a poor year with Tottenham, Postiga was selected for UEFA Euro 2004.[19][20] In the tournament he managed to save his team from defeat against England during the quarter-finals, netting a 83rd minute 1–1 equaliser as Portugal would prevail in the penalty shootout 6–5 after a 2–2 draw. He successfully converted his attempt with a "Panenka-style" shot.[21][22]Postiga made his debut for the Portuguese national team debut on 12 February 2003 in a friendly match with Italy, where he came on as a substitute for Tiago Mendes in the 70th minute – this game was also Luiz Felipe Scolari's debut as Portugal manager.[15][16] He was handed his first start on 10 June in a 4–0 win over Bolivia, where he scored his first two international goals.[17][18]
Postiga was subsequently summoned for the 2006 FIFA World Cup side, starting against Mexico in a 2–1 group stage win. In Euro 2008, also mainly usedfrom the bench, he scored a late goal against Germany, although Portugal lost 2–3 in the quarter-finals.
After more than two years of absence from the national team setup, Postiga was called up for two Euro 2012 qualifiers against Denmark and Iceland, in October 2010. On 12 October, against the latter, he netted in a 3–1 away win;[23] on 17 November, he put two past world champions Spain in a 4–0 friendly win in Lisbon.[24]
On 4 June 2011, Postiga scored the only goal in a Euro 2012 qualifier against Norway played at Estádio da Luz, which made him the tenth highest scorer in Portugal's history.[25] Selected by Paulo Bento to the finals in Poland and Ukraine as first-choice striker, he netted in the second group stage against Denmark, scoring the second in an eventual 3–2 win.[26] He injured his right thigh in the first half of the national side's 1–0 quarter-final victory over the Czech Republic, which also forced him out of the next match and the rest of the tournament.
