Hélder Postiga archive » EURO CUP 2008

HELDER POSTIGA PROFILE - PORTUGAL PLAYERS AT EURO 2008

June 1st, 2008

Filed under: EURO CUP PLAYERS, EURO CUP TEAMS @ 2:03 pm

Hélder Manuel Marques Postiga, (born August 2, 1982 in Vila do Conde), is a Portuguese football player who plays as a striker for Panathinaikos FC.

Postiga started his career at Varzim SC in Póvoa de Varzim (north of Porto). He later joined the FC Porto youth teams and continued to progress until he got to the senior B-team. At the time, coach Fernando Santos chose him for the first team on some occasions and Postiga did well.

After coach Octávio Machado came to FC Porto, Postiga joined the main squad. He soon revealed a talent of scoring goals and was decisive in some FC Porto wins. After coach 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 earned a permanent selection for the Portuguese national under-21 team by this time. After winning the 2003 national championship, Postiga went to English club Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of around £8 million.

Unadapted to the English style of football, Postiga only managed to score two goals, one in the league and one in the Carling Cup, and his reputation as an upcoming star drastically decreased. He only stayed at Spurs for one season and then returned to FC Porto in a deal that sent midfielder Pedro Mendes to Tottenham in exchange. Despite his poor form on club level, Postiga managed to save the Portuguese national team from defeat against England during the 2004 European Championships, scoring a goal that would make the difference during the last minutes of the game.

FC Porto’s coach Víctor Fernández included Postiga in the team for the 2004-05 campaign. He would have another disappointing season, but following a change of coach Porto, José Couceiro would lend a hand to the striker, who managed to score three goals (his only in the season, in 24 league appearances) as starter, before the end of the season.

In 2005, after a promising pre-season, he went to the Porto ‘B’ team, because new coach Co Adriaanse was not happy with his championship performances. In January of 2006, to try to confirm his position in the Portuguese team for the 2006 World Cup he moved on loan to AS Saint-Étienne, scoring two Ligue 1 goals.

Back at FC Porto for 2006-07, and due to the managerial changes at the club, he found himself back in the first team. His first few games were a huge improvement from what was shown in 2005-06, scoring regularly and displaying good manners. A regular starter for the team, he would nonetheless fall out of favor towards the end of the season, losing his place to Brazilian Adriano. Still, he managed ten league goals.

In January 2008, Postiga moved to Panathinaikos FC for a six-month loan period. He scored his first goal for Panathinaikos in the Athens derby against AEK Athens FC, in which he equalised (1-1).