Varzim SC (Portugal), FC Porto (Portugal), Tottenham Hotspur (England),
FC Porto (Portugal)
Honours
2004 Second du Championship d'Europe (Portugal)
Biography
Hélder Manuel Marques Postiga, or Hélder Postiga for short, (born
2 August 1982 in Vila do Conde) is a Portuguese football player
who plays as a striker.
He started his career at Varzim SC, north of Porto and he later
joined the FC Porto youth teams and continued to progress until
he got to the senior B-Team. Here the 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, and also Postiga was also 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 up-coming 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 Victor Fernandes included Hélder Postiga in the
team for the 2004/2005 SuperLiga season, but 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.
But 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 perfomances. In January of 2006, to try to confirm
his position in Portuguese team for 2006 World Cup he moved to
Saint-Etienne and finally he found himself doing good
perfomances and scoring goals again.
