Hélder Postiga

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Hélder Postiga
Personal information
Full name	Hélder Manuel Marques Postiga
Date of birth	August 2, 1982 (age 24)
Place of birth	Vila do Conde, Portugal
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 12 in)
Nickname	Postigol, Postman
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	FC Porto
Number	23
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2001-2003 2003-2004 2004- 2006	FC Porto Tottenham Hotspur FC Porto AS Saint-Étienne (loan)	58 (22) 19 (1) 43 (13) 8 (3)
National team2
2003-	Portugal	28 (9)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of July 8, 2006. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of March 28, 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Hélder Manuel Marques Postiga, OIH, or Hélder Postiga (pron. IPA: ['ɛɫdɛɾ puʃ'tigɐ]) for short, (born August 2, 1982 in Vila do Conde) is a Portuguese football player who plays as a striker for FC Porto.

He 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 in 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 the legendary coach José Mourinho assumed command of the team, Postiga exploded. He scored 13 goals at the age of 20 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. Such a young star wouldn't stay for long in Portugal and after winning the 2002/2003 Portuguese SuperLiga championship, Postiga went to English club Tottenham Hotspur.

Unadapted to the English style of football, Postiga only managed to score two goals, 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 Hélder Postiga in the team for the 2004/2005 SuperLiga season. Postiga would have another disappointing season, but following a change of coach at FC Porto, José Couceiro was the man who saved Postiga's season from complete disaster. Postiga was chosen as a starting player and he managed to score three goals 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 Saint-Étienne and finally he found himself playing well and scoring goals again.

Now is back at FC Porto, and due to the managerial changes at the club, he finds himself back in the first team. His first few games have been a huge improvement from what he has shown previously. Now a regular starter for the team, he has added a new goal scorer to the club. In his first 5 games with Porto this year, he scored 4 goals. Personal life He is married to Ana Filipa.

[edit] Honours

• UEFA Cup (2003, FC Porto)
• Portuguese SuperLiga (2003, 2006, FC Porto)
• Portuguese Cup (2003, FC Porto)
• Portuguese SuperCup (2005, FC Porto)
• FIFA Intercontinental Cup (2004, FC Porto)

	Portugal squad - 2004 European Football Championship Runners-Up
1 Ricardo | 2 P. Ferreira | 3 Rui Jorge | 4 J. Andrade | 5 F. Couto | 6 Costinha | 7 Figo | 8 Petit | 9 Pauleta | 10 Rui Costa | 11 Simão | 12 Quim | 13 Miguel | 14 N. Valente | 15 Beto | 16 R. Carvalho | 17 C. Ronaldo | 18 Maniche | 19 Tiago | 20 Deco | 21 Nuno Gomes | 22 Moreira | 23 H. Postiga | Coach: Scolari

	Portugal squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place
1 Ricardo | 2 P. Ferreira | 3 Caneira | 4 R. Costa | 5 Meira | 6 Costinha | 7 Figo | 8 Petit | 9 Pauleta | 10 H. Viana | 11 Simão | 12 Quim | 13 Miguel | 14 N. Valente | 15 Boa Morte | 16 R. Carvalho | 17 C. Ronaldo | 18 Maniche | 19 Tiago | 20 Deco | 21 Nuno Gomes | 22 P. Santos | 23 H. Postiga | Coach: Scolari

FC Porto - Current Squad
1 Helton | 2 R. Costa | 3 Pepe | 4 P. Emanuel | 5 Čech | 6 Ibson | 7 Quaresma | 8 Lucho | 9 Lisandro | 10 Anderson | 11 T. Sektioui | 12 Bosingwa | 13 Fucile | 14 B. Alves | 16 R. Meireles | 17 Vieirinha | 18 P. Assunção | 20 Jorginho | 21 Alan | 22 Rentería | 23 Postiga | 24 P. Ribeiro | 25 Lucas | 26 J. Paulo | 28 Adriano | 29 B. Moraes | 99 Baía | Manager: J. Ferreira