Pauleta

Pauleta
Personal information
Full name	Pedro Miguel Carreiro Resendes
Date of birth	April 28, 1973 (1973-04-28) (age 36)
Place of birth	Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Retired
Youth clubs
1991 1992–1994 1994	Santa Clara Operário Angrense
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1994–1995 1995–1996 1996–1998 1998–2000 2000–2003 2003–2008	União Micaelense Estoril-Praia UD Salamanca Deportivo La Coruña Bordeaux Paris SG	000 00(0) 030 0(19) 071 0(34) 058 0(18) 098 0(65) 167 (106)
National team2
1997–2006	Portugal	088 0(47)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 September 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 17 September 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Pedro Miguel Carreiro Resendes, OIH (born April 28, 1973 in Ponta Delgada, Azores), nicknamed Pauleta (pron. IPA: [pau'letɐ]), is a former Portuguese professional footballer, in the striker position.

Pauleta is the leading scorer for the Portuguese national team, having scored 47 goals in 88 matches. He played for his country in Euro 2000, the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2004, and the 2006 FIFA World Cup before retiring from international football.

Club career

Pauleta started his career at youth level playing for local clubs in the Azores, before turning professional with lower league clubs in Portugal, working his way up the ranks. He was part of F.C. Porto's youth team for a brief stint, but left soon due to homesickness. Pauleta signed his first professional contract with União Micaelense in 1994, spending a season at the club. He then moved to G.D. Estoril-Praia in 1995, scoring 19 goals in 30 league games.

The goals continued to flow following a switch to Spanish lower-league club UD Salamanca in 1996. Pauleta struck 19 times as the Spanish club gained promotion to the top-flight Spanish championship in 1997, scoring a further 15 times in his first season in the first division. That scoring rate earned a move to RC Deportivo La Coruña in 1998. Pauleta enjoyed a two-year spell with the Galician team, hitting 33 goals in 92 matches, including eight from 12 starts as Deportivo won their first league championship title in 1999-2000.

Pauleta joined FC Girondins de Bordeaux in the Ligue 1 in September 2000, and enjoyed an impressive run in his first season. He scored a debut hat-trick as Bordeaux crushed FC Nantes Atlantique 5-0 in an away match. He ended 2001-02 as the league's leading scorer with 21 goals. Subsequently, Pauleta was voted 2002 Footballer of the Year by fellow players and coaches. In total, he registered 65 league goals in 98 games for Bordeaux and went on to win a second Footballer of the Year award.

He joined Paris Saint-Germain FC ahead of the 2003-2004 season, signing a three-year contract in a reported €12m transfer deal. He helped the capital side to its first silverware in six years, by scoring the only goal of the 2004 French Cup final against LB Châteauroux. Pauleta continued with his goal scoring exploits in the league, registering 18 goals in 37 games, as PSG finished the league in second place.

On April 2, 2006 he scored his first hat-trick for Paris Saint-Germain against former club Bordeaux, as the home side won 3-1. Despite reported interest from defending French champions Olympique Lyonnais, Pauleta stayed at Paris-Saint Germain to help them clinch the 2006 French Cup. He scored his 99th and 100th overall goals for PSG in heroic fashion, off a fantastic volley and a textbook header respectively.

After 2007-08, as PSG faced relegation until the very last matchday (eventually reaching safety at 16th), Pauleta claimed that he would retire from football in 2008, with the possible exception being if any of the Big three in Portugal came calling.^[1]

National team

Pauleta was the first Portuguese national team player to never have played in Portugal's top-flight, when he made his international debut against Armenia, in August 1997. He would have to wait 18 months for his first national team start, against the Netherlands. His first goals came a month later, when he scored two in a 7-0 rout of Azerbaijan, in a March 26, 1999 Euro 2000 qualifier.

A substitute at the Euro 2000 tournament, he led the Portuguese attack at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, scoring a hat-trick against Poland, ending with that tally in as many games, as Portugal was ousted in the group stage.

Although he played all but one game on the road to the Euro 2004 final, Pauleta did not score in that tournament finals. However, on October 12, 2005, against Latvia, he became the national team's all-time goal scoring leader, surpassing Eusébio's previous record of 41 goals.

Pauleta was the European top scorer in the qualifying round for the 2006 World Cup and, in a friendly match against Cape Verde in May 2006, preluding the World Cup finals, Pauleta showed great form as he netted three times in a Portuguese 4-1 win. However, after scoring the first goal for Portugal in the World Cup game against Angola, he failed to find the net again during the tournament. After Portugal's defeat to Germany in the third place play-off game, Pauleta announced his international retirement.

Career statistics

Honours

• 1995 Top scorer in Portuguese Second Division
• 2000 Spanish League
• 2002 Top scorer in French League
• 2002 Ligue 1's Footballer of the Year
• 2002 French League Cup
• 2003 Ligue 1's Footballer of the Year
• 2004 French Cup
• 2004 Euro 2004 finalist
• 2006 French Cup
• 2006 Top scorer in French League
• 2006 Top scorer during 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
• 2006 World Cup fourth place
• 2007 Top scorer in French League
• 2008 French League Cup
• 2008 French Cup finalist

References

External links

• PSG profile (French)
• L'Equipe stats (French)

Portugal squad – UEFA Euro 2000 semi-finalists 1 Baía • 2 J. Costa • 3 Rui Jorge • 4 Vidigal • 5 Couto • 6 Sousa • 7 Figo • 8 Pinto • 9 Sá Pinto • 10 R. Costa • 11 Conceição • 12 Espinha • 13 Dimas • 14 Xavier • 15 Costinha • 16 Beto • 17 Bento • 18 Pauleta • 19 Capucho • 20 Secretário • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Quim • Coach: Coelho

Portugal squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Baía • 2 J. Costa • 3 Xavier • 4 Caneira • 5 Couto • 6 Sousa • 7 Figo • 8 Pinto • 9 Pauleta • 10 Rui Costa • 11 Conceição • 12 Viana • 13 Andrade • 14 Barbosa • 15 Nélson • 16 Ricardo • 17 Bento • 18 Frechaut • 19 Capucho • 20 Petit • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Beto • 23 Rui Jorge • Coach: Oliveira

Portugal squad – UEFA Euro 2004 Runners-up 1 Ricardo • 2 Ferreira • 3 Rui Jorge • 4 Andrade • 5 Couto • 6 Costinha • 7 Figo • 8 Petit • 9 Pauleta • 10 R. Costa • 11 Simão • 12 Quim • 13 Miguel • 14 Valente • 15 Beto • 16 Carvalho • 17 Ronaldo • 18 Maniche • 19 Tiago • 20 Deco • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Moreira • 23 Postiga • Coach: Scolari

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