page_title: Hélder Postiga
section_title: International career
hierarchical_section_title: Hélder Postiga / International career
caption_attribution_description: The making of this document was supported by Wikimedia CH. (Submit your project!) For all the files concerned, please see the category Supported by Wikimedia CH. العربية&#160;| বাংলা&#160;| Čeština&#160;| Deutsch&#160;| English&#160;| Esperanto&#160;| Español&#160;| Français&#160;| Magyar&#160;| Italiano&#160;| Македонски&#160;| Nederlands&#160;| Rumantsch&#160;| Sicilianu&#160;| українська&#160;| +/− Portugal vs. Argentina, 9th February 2011
context_page_description: Hélder Manuel Marques Postiga OIH is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a striker.
  After beginning at Porto, where he won eight items of silverware along the way, he amassed Primeira Liga totals of 195 games and 54 goals over 11 seasons, with that club, Sporting and Rio Ave. He also played in six foreign countries, most notably in Spain where he totalled 27 goals in 99 La Liga matches for three teams.
  A Portuguese international since 2003, Postiga represented the country in two World Cups and three European Championships, helping the nation reach the final at Euro 2004.
context_section_description: Postiga made his debut for the Portugal national team on 12 February 2003 in a friendly match with Italy, where he came on as a substitute for Tiago Mendes in the 70th minute – this game was also Luiz Felipe Scolari's first as manager. He was handed his first start on 10 June in a 4–0 win over Bolivia, where he scored his first two international goals.
  Even though he had arguably a poor year with Tottenham, Postiga was selected for UEFA Euro 2004. In the tournament he managed to save his team from defeat against England during the quarter-finals, netting an 83rd-minute equaliser to level the score at 1–1 as Portugal would prevail in the penalty shootout 6–5 after a 2–2 draw. He converted his attempt with a "Panenka-style" shot, but did not feature in the final, lost 0–1 to outsiders Greece.
  Postiga was subsequently summoned for the 2006 FIFA World Cup side, starting against Mexico in a 2–1 win at the end of the group stage. In the quarter-finals, after replacing captain Luís Figo, he again scored to eliminate England on penalties, as the nation eventually finished fourth.
  In Euro 2008, Postiga was also mainly used from the bench. In the quarter-finals against Germany, he scored a late goal by heading in a cross from fellow substitute Nani, although Portugal lost 2–3.
  After more than two years of absence from the national team setup, Postiga was called up for two Euro 2012 qualifiers against Denmark and Iceland, in October 2010. On 12 October, against the latter, he netted in a 3–1 away win; on 17 November, he put two past world champions Spain in a 4–0 friendly win in Lisbon.
  On 4 June 2011, Postiga scored the only goal in a Euro 2012 qualifier against Norway played at Estádio da Luz, which made him the tenth highest scorer in Portugal's history. He added two on 15 November of that year, in a 6–2 play-off second leg win over Bosnia and Herzegovina which secured a place in the competition.
  Selected by Paulo Bento to the finals in Poland and Ukraine as first-choice striker, he netted in the second group stage against Denmark, scoring the second in an eventual 3–2 win. He injured his right thigh in the first half of the national side's 1–0 quarter-final victory over the Czech Republic, which also forced him out of the next match and the rest of the tournament.
  Postiga scored six goals in the qualification campaign for the 2014 World Cup. On 6 September 2013, he was sent off in the first half of a 3–2 win away to Northern Ireland for headbutting Gareth McAuley; at the finals, he started the second game against the United States after an injury to Hugo Almeida in the opener, but was himself substituted following 16 minutes due to injury as Portugal were eliminated in the group stage.
caption: Postiga in action for Portugal in a friendly match against Argentina on 9 February 2011.
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