Hélder Postiga facts for kids

"Postiga" redirects here. For his younger brother, see José Postiga.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Marques and the second or paternal family name is Postiga.

Quick facts for kids
Hélder Postiga

Postiga playing for Deportivo in 2014

Personal information

Full name

Hélder Manuel Marques Postiga

Date of birth

2 August 1982 (age 43)

Place of birth

Vila do Conde, Portugal

Height

1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)

Position(s)

Striker

Youth career

1992–1995

Varzim

1995–2000

Porto

Senior career*

Years

Team

Apps

(Gls)

2000–2001

Porto B

(10)

2001–2003

Porto

(22)

2003–2004

Tottenham Hotspur

(1)

2004–2008

Porto

(15)

2006

→ Saint-Étienne (loan)

(2)

2008

→ Panathinaikos (loan)

(2)

2008–2011

Sporting CP

(12)

2011–2013

Zaragoza

(23)

2013–2014

Valencia

(3)

2014

→ Lazio (loan)

(0)

2014–2015

Deportivo La Coruña

(1)

2015

Atlético Kolkata

(2)

2016

Rio Ave

(5)

2016

Atlético Kolkata

(2)

Total

394

(100)

International career

2001–2003

Portugal U21

(12)

2002

Portugal B

(1)

2003–2014

Portugal

(27)

Medal record


Men's football
Representing Portugal
UEFA European Championship
	2004 Portugal
Bronze	2012 Poland-Ukraine

*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Hélder Manuel Marques Postiga (born on August 2, 1982) is a former professional footballer from Portugal. He played as a striker, which means he was responsible for scoring goals.

Postiga started his career at Porto, one of Portugal's biggest clubs, where he won many trophies. He played in 195 league games and scored 54 goals over 11 seasons for Porto, Sporting CP, and Rio Ave. He also played in several countries outside Portugal, especially in Spain, where he scored 27 goals in 99 games in Spain's top league for three different teams.

Hélder Postiga was also a key player for the Portugal national team starting in 2003. He played for his country in two World Cups and three European Championships. He helped Portugal reach the final of Euro 2004.

Club Career Highlights
International Career
Personal Life
Career Statistics
- Club Appearances
- International Appearances
Trophies and Awards
See also

Club Career Highlights

Starting at Porto

Hélder Postiga was born in Vila do Conde, Portugal. He began playing football at Varzim before joining Porto's youth academy in 1995. He worked his way up through the youth teams to the reserve squad.

When José Mourinho became the manager, Postiga became a regular player for the main team. In the 2002–03 season, when he was 20 years old, he scored 19 goals. Porto won three major trophies that year, including the league title and the UEFA Cup. Even though he missed the UEFA Cup final due to a suspension, he scored five goals in that competition. After this successful season, he played his first game for the senior Portugal national team.

Time at Tottenham Hotspur

On June 25, 2003, Postiga moved to the English club Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League. He signed a five-year contract. The manager, Glenn Hoddle, said that Postiga would bring "definite striking quality" to the team.

Postiga played his first game for Tottenham on August 16, 2003. His first goal came on December 3 in a League Cup match against Manchester City. He scored his only league goal for Tottenham on January 17, 2004, in a 2–1 win against Liverpool.

Returning to Porto

Postiga as a Porto player in 2007

In the summer of 2004, Postiga went back to Porto. He had a tough year at first, but his performance improved after José Couceiro became the manager.

In 2005, Postiga was sent to Porto's B team because the new coach, Co Adriaanse, was not happy with his play. In January 2006, he went on loan to Saint-Étienne in France to try and earn a spot in the 2006 World Cup squad. He scored two goals there.

Back at Porto for the 2006–07 season, Postiga became a regular starter again and scored 11 league goals. In total, during his two periods at Porto, he played 165 games and scored 48 goals. In January 2008, he went on a six-month loan to Panathinaikos in Greece.

Playing for Sporting CP

On June 1, 2008, Postiga joined Sporting CP, another big Portuguese club and a rival of Porto. He signed a three-year contract. He scored his first goal for Sporting on September 1, which was the only goal in a win against Braga.

His second season at Sporting was difficult, and he struggled to score goals. He lost his starting position to a younger player.

Time in Spain with Zaragoza

Postiga (kneeling) celebrating a goal against Athletic Bilbao

On August 31, 2011, Postiga moved to Real Zaragoza in Spain's top league, La Liga. He joined his Portuguese teammates Fernando Meira and Rúben Micael there.

Postiga scored his first two goals for Zaragoza on October 16, 2011, in a 2–0 win against Real Sociedad. He finished the season as the club's top scorer, helping them avoid relegation.

On November 10, 2012, Postiga scored two goals in a thrilling 5–3 win against Deportivo de La Coruña. He scored a career-high 14 goals during the 2012–13 season, but unfortunately, his team was relegated to a lower league.

Short Stays at Valencia and Lazio

On August 8, 2013, Postiga joined Valencia. On September 1, he scored two goals against Barcelona at the Mestalla Stadium, but Valencia still lost the game 3–2.

On January 30, 2014, Postiga was loaned to Lazio in Italy for the rest of the season. He made his debut in Serie A on March 26.

Playing for Deportivo

On September 1, 2014, Postiga left Valencia and signed a one-year deal with Deportivo, another team in Spain's top division. He scored his first goal for Deportivo on October 31. A week later, he was sent off in a game against Córdoba.

Postiga spent most of the season injured, but Deportivo managed to avoid relegation.

Adventures in India with Atlético Kolkata

On July 29, 2015, Postiga signed with Atlético de Kolkata, a team in the Indian Super League. He was the youngest "marquee player" (a star player) in the league at 32 years old. He made his debut on October 3, scoring two goals in a 3–2 win, but he also got injured in that game. He did not play any more games that season.

On February 1, 2016, Postiga returned to Portugal to play for Rio Ave. He scored his 50th goal in the Portuguese league on February 26. On May 14, 2016, he scored the winning goal in the last game of the season, which helped Rio Ave qualify for the Europa League.

On August 12, 2016, Postiga went back to Atlético Kolkata as their marquee player again. He suffered another long-term injury early in his second game of the season. Despite his injuries, the team went on to win the championship that year.

International Career

Postiga taking on Germany's Mats Hummels at Euro 2012

Hélder Postiga played 71 games for the Portugal national team and scored 27 goals. His first game for Portugal was on February 12, 2003, in a friendly match against Italy. He scored his first two international goals on June 10 in a 4–0 win against Bolivia.

Even though he had a tough year with Tottenham, Postiga was chosen for UEFA Euro 2004. In the quarter-finals against England, he scored an important goal in the 83rd minute to make the score 1–1. Portugal then won the game in a penalty shootout. He scored his penalty with a special "Panenka-style" shot. Portugal reached the final but lost to Greece.

Postiga was also part of the 2006 FIFA World Cup squad. In the quarter-finals, he came on as a substitute and scored another goal against England in a penalty shootout, helping Portugal win. Portugal finished fourth in that tournament.

In Euro 2008, Postiga mostly came off the bench. In the quarter-finals against Germany, he scored a late goal, but Portugal lost 3–2.

After not playing for the national team for over two years, Postiga was called up again in October 2010 for Euro 2012 qualifiers. On October 12, he scored in a 3–1 win against Iceland. On November 17, he scored two goals against Spain in a 4–0 friendly win.

On June 4, 2011, Postiga scored the only goal in a Euro 2012 qualifier against Norway, which made him one of Portugal's top goal scorers. He scored two more goals on November 15, 2011, in a 6–2 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which secured Portugal's place in the Euro 2012 tournament.

At the Euro 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine, Postiga was the main striker. He scored in the group stage game against Denmark. However, he got injured in the quarter-final match against the Czech Republic and missed the rest of the tournament.

Postiga scored six goals during the qualification games for the 2014 World Cup. At the World Cup itself, he started the second game against the United States but had to leave the game early due to injury. Portugal was eliminated in the group stage.

Personal Life

Hélder Postiga grew up in the Caxinas fishing neighborhood of Vila do Conde, just like his long-time teammates Bruno Alves and Fábio Coentrão. Interestingly, even though he was a childhood fan of Benfica, he went on to play for their two main rivals, Porto and Sporting.

Hélder's younger brother, José, also played football as a forward.

Career Statistics

Club Appearances

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Continental		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Porto	2001–02	Primeira Liga	27	9	3	3	—		10	1	—		40	13
	2002–03	Primeira Liga	31	13	3	0	—		13	5	—		47	18
	Total		58	22	6	3	—		23	6	—		87	31
Tottenham Hotspur	2003–04	Premier League	19	1	2	0	3	1	—		—		24	2
Porto	2004–05	Primeira Liga	24	3	1	0	—		7	0	1	0	23	3
	2005–06		2	0	0	0	—		0	0	—		2	0
	2006–07		24	11	0	0	—		7	1	—		31	12
	2007–08		6	1	1	1	0	0	4	0	—		11	2
	Total		56	15	2	1	0	0	18	1	1	0	77	17
Saint-Étienne (loan)	2005–06	Ligue 1	16	2	0	0	0	0	—		—		16	2
Panathinaikos (loan)	2007–08	Super League Greece	11	2	1	0	—		2	0	3	0	17	2
Sporting CP	2008–09	Primeira Liga	21	5	2	0	3	0	5	0	1	0	32	5
	2009–10		22	1	1	0	2	0	7	0	—		32	1
	2010–11		25	6	2	0	3	1	12	4	—		42	11
	2011–12		3	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	—		5	0
	Total		71	12	5	0	8	1	26	4	1	0	111	18
Zaragoza	2011–12	La Liga	33	9	1	0	—		—		—		34	9
	2012–13	La Liga	37	14	4	0	—		—		—		41	14
	Total		70	23	5	0	—		—		—		75	23
Valencia	2013–14	La Liga	15	3	3	1	—		5	0	—		23	4
Lazio (loan)	2013–14	Serie A	5	0	0	0	—		—		—		5	0
Deportivo	2014–15	La Liga	14	1	2	1	—		—		—		16	2
Atlético Kolkata	2015	Indian Super League	1	2	—		—		—		—		1	2
Rio Ave	2015–16	Primeira Liga	10	5	1	0	—		—		—		11	5
Atlético Kolkata	2016	Indian Super League	11	2	—		—		—		—		11	2
Career total			357	90	27	6	11	2	74	11	5	0	474	109

International Appearances

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Portugal	2003	4	2
	2004	7	4
	2005	10	3
	2006	6	0
	2007	4	1
	2008	3	1
	2009	0	0
	2010	3	3
	2011	9	5
	2012	11	4
	2013	9	4
	2014	5	0
Total		71	27

Scores and results list Portugal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Postiga goal.

List of international goals scored by Hélder Postiga
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	10 June 2003	Estádio Nacional, Oeiras Municipality, Portugal	Bolivia	3–0	4–0	Friendly
2	10 June 2003	Estádio Nacional, Oeiras Municipality, Portugal	Bolivia	4–0	4–0	Friendly
3	5 June 2004	Estádio do Bonfim, Setúbal, Portugal	Lithuania	4–1	4–1	Friendly
4	24 June 2004	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	England	1–1	2–2	UEFA Euro 2004
5	8 September 2004	Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria, Portugal	Estonia	2–0	4–0	2006 World Cup qualification
6	8 September 2004	Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria, Portugal	Estonia	4–0	4–0	2006 World Cup qualification
7	26 March 2005	Estádio Cidade de Barcelos, Barcelos Municipality, Portugal	Canada	3–0	4–1	Friendly
8	30 March 2005	Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia	Slovakia	1–1	1–1	2006 World Cup qualification
9	17 August 2005	Estádio de São Miguel (Ponta Delgada), Ponta Delgada Municipality, Portugal	Egypt	2–0	2–0	Friendly
10	2 June 2007	King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium	Belgium	2–1	2–1	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
11	19 June 2008	St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland	Germany	2–3	2–3	UEFA Euro 2008
12	12 October 2010	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	Iceland	3–1	3–1	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
13	17 November 2010	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	Spain	2–0	4–0	Friendly
14	17 November 2010	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	Spain	3–0	4–0	Friendly
15	4 June 2011	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	Norway	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
16	10 August 2011	Estádio Algarve, São João da Venda, Portugal	Luxembourg	1–0	5–0	Friendly
17	7 October 2011	Estádio do Dragão, Porto, Portugal	Iceland	3–0	5–3	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
18	15 November 2011	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4–2	6–2	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
19	15 November 2011	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	Bosnia and Herzegovina	6–2	6–2	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
20	13 June 2012	Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine	Denmark	2–0	3–2	UEFA Euro 2012
21	7 September 2012	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	2–1	2–1	2014 World Cup qualification
22	11 September 2012	Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga, Portugal	Azerbaijan	2–0	3–0	2014 World Cup qualification
23	16 October 2012	Estádio do Dragão, Porto, Portugal	Northern Ireland	1–1	1–1	2014 World Cup qualification
24	6 February 2013	Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães, Portugal	Ecuador	2–1	2–3	Friendly
25	22 March 2013	Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel	Israel	2–3	3–3	2014 World Cup qualification
26	7 June 2013	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	Russia	1–0	1–0	2014 World Cup qualification
27	15 October 2013	Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal	Luxembourg	3–0	3–0	2014 World Cup qualification