Last week’s round of European Championship play-offs didn’t throw out many surprises: Republic of Ireland steam-rolled Estonia, Montenegro’s tenacity eventually ran out as they lost to Czech Republic, and Portugal – true to form – made their long-suffering, debt-ridden nation have to wait on tenterhooks as they made hard work of defeating Bosnia.
But, and it arises from this latter observation, there was one detail which did elicit a certain amount of bemusement, especially in north London: how is Hélder Postiga, the insipid Tottenham flop, still managing to get into the Portuguese national team? The man who, at 29, has already played in five different countries, has never been prolific, never been resounding, and never been displayed commitment to one club. Yet he started up front, alongside heavyweights Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo, in what was his country’s biggest game of the year.
Following the 0-0 result from the first-leg, the tie was rested on a knife’s edge; taking place in Lisbon, the Portuguese may have just had the upper-hand, but the resilience and determination of the Bosnians – spearheaded by Manchester City’s Edin Dzeko – was always going to make this match-up entertaining. It didn’t disappoint: Portugal ran out winners 6-2, despite at one point throwing away a 2-0 lead and having to dig deeper than previously anticipated.
Two players scored a brace in the game; both strikers, both dastardly handsome and both in their late 20s. But that is where the comparisons end: one is the world’s most expensive and infamous player, famed equally for his gargantuan talent and his model good-looks, decorated with accolades and medals. The other is a journeyman striker, with disappointment and mediocrity stalking him at each of the six clubs he has played for, as the scorching potential he had flickers into a dying ember.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Hélder Postiga were meant to be part of a new generation of Portuguese football, taking the mantle from the legendary enigmas of Luis Figo, Pauleta and Nuno Gomes. Only one of them has lived up to that potential and he netted his 18th and 19th goals of the season on Tuesday night; the fact that only three times in the last 10 seasons has Postiga managed to reach a goal tally of double figures suggests it wasn’t him.
But where did it go wrong for this precocious talent? Where, along the way, did he disprove those journalists and writers who, in the infancy of last decade, resplendently place him in magazine ‘Talent Scout’ sections, labelling him as one to watch?
After massively assisting in FC Porto’s vanquish of the 2002-03 Portuguese Primeira Liga – 13 goals in 31 games – few could doubt that Postiga had talent. So when Glenn Hoddle, Spurs manager at the time, signed the then-21-year-old back in 2003, red-top headlines went into overdrive: “Portuguese Postman will deliver” and “How will Hodd Héld on to this great talent” could be heard, with some quarters even labelling Cristiano Ronaldo – signed by Manchester United a month later in the same transfer window – a copycat of Postiga.
Fast-forward 12 months later, to the European Championships of 2004 – taking place in Postiga’s native Portugal – where England and Portugal are vying for a place in the semi-finals. England, leading through a 3rd minute Michael Owen goal, are looking strong, wanting to progress and prove the many, loquacious doubters wrong.
Something’s not right here. You seem adamant that Postiga won’t deliver, although he’s delivered nearly everytime he’s played for Portugal under Bento (8 goals in 12 games).
Considering he’s come off the bench in a good number of those 46 matches, 19 in 46 is actually a great record (it would be a decent record if he’d have started every match as well). As a comparison, Wayne Rooney’s got a lower goals per game ratio for England than Postiga’s for Portugal. (WR – 0.38, HP – 0.41 g/pg)
In fact, only two players on the top 10 list of highest scorers for the Portugal NT have better ratio than Postiga (who is 10th in that list), and that’s Pauleta and Eusebio. Even Cristiano Ronaldo’s goals per game ratio is lower than Postiga’s.
He might not be a great striker, and certainly hasn’t been prolific for his club sides, but you cannot argue with his national record. Another aspect is that his workrate is very important for this Portuguese side, especially considering Ronaldo/Nani doesn’t track back that much.
Rabona,
Thanks for your comment; a very watertight argument you present. Facts and stats trump opinion all day, every day.
My point about Postiga was thus: I was simply vexed and bamboozled as to how, despite never being prolific at club level and seemingly never fulfilling his potential, he is still able to line up for the world’s 7th best team. As you so succinctly point out, he can find the net and he does have talent; but he just does not command the same awe that Nani, Coentrao, Ronaldo, Mountinho, Veloso etc all seem to.
He is ahead of Hugo Almeida – who I unfortunately did not get chance to mention – in the pecking order who is seemingly that bit more prolific: on average, during his three seasons at Werder Bremen, he scored 1 goal every 3 games. He is also on par with Postiga on the international stage (15 goals in 39 caps) yet he finds caps, at 2 years the junior, that bit more difficult to come by. But I suppose this is when we must look past stats and examine what else the player contributes. As you say, Postiga has a strong work ethic which is, in itself, worth its weight in goals.
Almeida vs Postiga is a very interesting debate – they are two very different strikers. Almeida is a physical presence, almost north-European/English in style (that’s why he’s done so well in Germany), and is suited against teams without physical defenders. Under Bento he has been prone to miss big chances, while Postiga has been unusually effective, and combined well with Moutinho, Ronaldo and Nani.
I guess they have different qualities, which for Bento must be good. The fight for the striker role is between those two, and they need to push each other and play at their best in every match in order to not hamper the quality of Ronaldo and Nani.