Pauleta facts for kids
Pauleta in 2012
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Pedro Miguel Carreiro Resendes | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 28 April 1973 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m | |||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Striker | |||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
| 1987–1989 | Santa Clara | |||||||||||||||
| 1989–1990 | Porto | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | |||||||||||||
| 1990–1992 | Santa Clara | 11 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 1992–1994 | Operário | |||||||||||||||
| 1994 | Angrense | |||||||||||||||
| 1995 | Micaelense | 23 | (11) | |||||||||||||
| 1995–1996 | Estoril | 29 | (18) | |||||||||||||
| 1996–1998 | Salamanca | 71 | (34) | |||||||||||||
| 1998–2000 | Deportivo La Coruña | 58 | (18) | |||||||||||||
| 2000–2003 | Bordeaux | 98 | (65) | |||||||||||||
| 2003–2008 | Paris Saint-Germain | 168 | (76) | |||||||||||||
| 2010 | São Roque | 1 | (2) | |||||||||||||
| Total | 459 | (224) | ||||||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||||||
| 1988 | Portugal U16 | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 1996 | Portugal U21 | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 1997–2006 | Portugal | 88 | (47) | |||||||||||||
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Honours
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Pedro Miguel Carreiro Resendes (born April 28, 1973), famous as Pauleta, is a Portuguese former professional footballer. He was a fantastic striker, known for scoring many goals.
Pauleta played for 18 years as a professional. He spent 12 of those years playing in Spain and France. He never played in Portugal's top league. His most successful time was with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). There, he scored 109 goals in all games. He was the top goalscorer in Ligue 1 (France's main league) three times. He was also voted the best player in the league twice.
Pauleta also scored 47 goals in 88 matches for Portugal. This was a national record when he retired. He played for Portugal in two World Cups and two European Championships.
Contents
Pauleta: The Eagle of the Azores
Pauleta was born in Ponta Delgada, a city in the Azores, Portugal. His nickname, "The Eagle of the Azores," came from his goal celebration. He would spread his arms like wings after scoring.
Early Football Journey
Pauleta started his football journey with local clubs in the Azores. He briefly joined FC Porto's youth team but left because he missed home. In 1994, he signed his first professional contract with CU Micaelense. After one year, he moved to G.D. Estoril Praia in Portugal's second division in 1995. He scored 18 goals in 29 games for them.
Playing in Spain
In 1996, Pauleta moved to Spain to play for UD Salamanca in the second division. He scored 19 goals, helping his team get promoted to La Liga, Spain's top league. In his first season in La Liga, he scored 15 goals.
His great scoring record led him to join Deportivo de La Coruña in 1998. He scored his first goal in a European competition for Deportivo. On November 22, 1999, he scored three goals (a hat-trick) in one game. He helped Deportivo win their first league championship title in 2000. He scored 33 goals in 92 games for them.
French Football Star
On September 1, 2000, Pauleta moved to France to play for FC Girondins de Bordeaux. He quickly showed his scoring talent.
Success with Bordeaux
In his first season with Bordeaux, Pauleta scored 26 goals in all competitions. He was the team's top scorer and the second-highest scorer in Ligue 1. In the 2001–02 season, he was the top scorer in the league with 22 goals. He scored 35 goals in all games that season, which was a club record.
Pauleta was voted the best player in the French League twice. He also won the French League Cup in 2002, scoring twice in the final. He scored 65 league goals in 98 games for Bordeaux. In total, he scored 91 goals in 130 matches for the club.
Paris Saint-Germain Legend
Pauleta joined Paris Saint-Germain F.C. (PSG) in 2003. He signed a three-year contract. He helped PSG win their first trophy in six years, the French Cup, in 2004. He scored the only goal in the final. He continued to score many goals, netting 18 times in the league that season.
In 2006, Pauleta scored his first hat-trick for PSG against his old club, Bordeaux. He also helped PSG win the French Cup again in 2006. He scored his 99th and 100th goals for PSG in that final.
Pauleta scored one of PSG's goals when they won the French League Cup in 2008. After the 2007–08 season, Pauleta retired from professional football at age 35. He became an ambassador for PSG. He was the club's all-time top scorer with 109 goals in 211 matches. This record was later broken by Zlatan Ibrahimović in 2015.
In 2009, Pauleta played a special farewell match at PSG's stadium. His son, André, even scored two goals at the end of the game! Pauleta briefly returned to play for an amateur team, Grupo Desportivo São Roque, in 2010 before retiring for good.
Playing for Portugal
Pauleta made his debut for the Portugal national team in August 1997. He was the first player to join the national team without ever playing in Portugal's top league. His first goals for Portugal came in March 1999, when he scored two goals against Azerbaijan.
He played in the UEFA Euro 2000 tournament. At the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Pauleta led Portugal's attack. He scored three goals against Poland. In November 2003, he scored four goals in a friendly game against Kuwait.
Pauleta played in almost every game leading up to the final of UEFA Euro 2004. After this tournament, he became the team captain for a while. In October 2005, he scored two goals against Latvia. This made him Portugal's all-time leading goal scorer at that time, passing Eusébio's record of 41 goals.
During the 2006 World Cup qualifying games, Pauleta was the top scorer in Europe. He scored three goals in a friendly match against Cape Verde before the World Cup. He scored Portugal's first goal in the World Cup against Angola. After Portugal's defeat to Germany in the third-place play-off, he announced his retirement from international football. He scored 47 goals in 88 matches for Portugal.
How He Played
Pauleta was known as a very good goal scorer. He was considered one of the best strikers in Europe during his career. He was fast and athletic, and he had good technique. He could use both feet to shoot and was strong at heading the ball. He often played as the main attacker for his team.
Off the Field
Pauleta's nickname, "Pauleta," has been in his family for generations. In November 2005, he became an ambassador for FIFA's SOS Children's Villages program. He was the first Portuguese person to do so.
Honours and Achievements
Pauleta won many awards and trophies during his career:
Deportivo
- La Liga: 1999–2000
- Supercopa de España: 2000
Bordeaux
- Coupe de la Ligue: 2001–02
Paris Saint-Germain
- Coupe de France: 2003–04, 2005–06
- Coupe de la Ligue: 2007–08
Portugal
- UEFA European Championship: Runner-up 2004
Individual Awards
- Segunda División top scorer: 1996–97
- Ligue 1 top scorer: 2001–02, 2005–06, 2006–07
- UNFP Ligue 1 Footballer of the Year: 2001–02, 2002–03
- UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2002–03, 2005–06
- UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Month: October 2003
- UNFP 20 Year Special Team Trophy: 2011
Orders
Commander of the Order of Merit
Officer of the Order of Prince Henry
Medal of Merit, Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (House of Braganza)
See also
In Spanish: Pauleta para niños
