Hélder Cristóvão

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hélder Marino Rodrigues Cristóvão, better known as Hélder (born Luanda, March 21, 1971) is a Portuguese footballer with Angolan descent, playing as a central-defender.

He first attracted atencions as a Estoril player, moving to Benfica, in 1992/93, were he stayed until 1996/97. He moved to Deportivo Coruña the same season. In the 1999/2000 season, he moved on-loan to Newcastle United, making 12 appearances before returning to Deportivo. He returned to Benfica at the end of his career, where he played until 2003/2004, joining Paris Saint-Germain FC the following season.

He won the title of national champion for the season of 1993/94 and the Cup of Portugal in 1993, 1996 and 2004. As a Deportivo Coruña player, he also won the Spanish La Liga, in 1999/2000.

He had 35 caps for Portugal National Team, scoring 3 goals. His first game was on 12 February 1992, a 2-0 win over the Netherlands, in a friendly match, and his last game a 0-4 loss with France, in Paris, on April 25, 2001, in another friendly match. He played at the Euro 1996 finals.

	Portugal squad - 1996 European Football Championship Quarter-finalists
1 Baía | 2 Secretário | 3 Paulinho Santos | 4 Oceano | 5 F. Couto | 6 J. Tavares | 7 Paneira | 8 João Pinto | 9 Sá Pinto | 10 Rui Costa | 11 Cadete | 12 Alfredo | 13 Dimas | 14 P. Barbosa | 15 Domingos | 16 Hélder | 17 Porfírio | 18 Folha | 19 Paulo Sousa | 20 Figo | 21 P. Madeira | 22 Rui Correia | Coach: António Oliveira