Pauleta

Pauleta
Personal information
Full name	Pedro Miguel Carreiro Resendes
Date of birth	April 28, 1973 (1973-04-28) (age 37)
Place of birth	Ponta Delgada, Portugal
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
1988–1989 1989–1990 1990–1991	Santa Clara Porto Santa Clara
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1991–1992 1992–1994 1994 1995 1995–1996 1996–1998 1998–2000 2000–2003 2003–2008	Santa Clara Operário Angrense Micaelense Estoril-Praia Salamanca Deportivo La Coruña Bordeaux Paris SG	00- 00(-) 00- 00(-) 00- 00(-) 00- 00(-) 030 0(19) 071 0(34) 058 0(18) 098 0(65) 168 0(76)
National team
1997–2006	Portugal	088 0(47)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Pedro Miguel Carreiro Resendes, OIH (born 28 April 1973), commonly known as Pauleta (Portuguese pronunciation: [pawˈletɐ]), is a former Portuguese professional footballer, who played as a striker.

Pauleta scored 47 goals in 88 matches for the Portuguese national team, a national record at the time of his retirement. He played for his country in UEFA Euro 2000, the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup.

When selected for the latter competition, he was the only player to have never played in the Portuguese first division, having spent most of his professional career in Spain and France (12 years).

Club career

Early starts/Spain

Born in Ponta Delgada, Azores, Pauleta started his career at youth level playing for local clubs in his native island, before turning professional with lower league clubs in Portugal, working his way up the ranks. He was part of F.C. Porto's youth team for a brief stint, but left soon due to homesickness. Pauleta signed his first professional contract with Clube União Micaelense in 1994, spending a season at the club. He then moved to second division's G.D. Estoril-Praia in 1995, scoring 19 goals in 30 league games.

The goals continued to flow following a switch to Spanish second level club UD Salamanca in 1996. Pauleta struck 19 times as it gained promotion to the top flight in 1997, scoring a further 15 times in his first season in the first division. That scoring rate earned a move to Deportivo de La Coruña in 1998. Pauleta enjoyed a two-year spell with the Galician team, scoring 33 goals in 92 matches, including eight from 12 starts as Deportivo won their first league championship title in 1999–2000.

France

Pedro Pauleta joined Girondins de Bordeaux in September 2000, and enjoyed an impressive run in his first season. He scored a debut hat-trick as Bordeaux crushed FC Nantes 5–0 in an away match.^[1][2] He ended the season as the club's leading scorer with 26 goals in all competitions,^[3] and the league's second leading scorer with 20.

In the 2001–02 season, Pauleta was the league's top scorer with 22 goals. He also was the club's leading scorer in all competitions with 35 goals - a record.^[4] Subsequently, he was voted the best player in the French first division, and was also awarded the 'Oscar of football' by fellow players and coaches,^[5] and was named one of the 50 players shortlisted for the 2002 European Footballer of the Year award (Ballon d'Or), with only another player from the French League in the list.^[6] In the same season, Pauleta also won the French League Cup, being instrumental to the success scoring two goals in the final.^[7][8] After his great performances, Manchester City's manager Kevin Keegan expressed an interest in the striker, but Bordeaux's chairman Jean-Louis Triaud said that, initially, they were not interested in the transfer, showing that Pauleta could be for sale only in the right circumstances.^[9]

In 2002–03, Pauleta proved himself another time, scoring 23 league goals, and 30 in all competitions. For the second time, he won the title for the best player in the first level, and was also named in the French League team of the year. In total, he registered 65 league goals in 98 games and 91 in 130 matches in all competitions for Bordeaux,^[10] ranking third all-time upon his departure.^[11]

Pauleta joined Paris Saint-Germain ahead of the 2003–04 season, signing a three-year contract in a reported €12 million transfer deal.^[12] He helped the capital side to its first silverware in six years, by scoring the only goal of the 2004 French Cup final against LB Châteauroux. Pauleta continued with his goal scoring exploits in the league, registering 18 goals in 37 games, as PSG finished the league in second place.

On 2 April 2006, Pauleta scored his first hat-trick for Paris Saint-Germain against former club Bordeaux, as the home side won 3–1.^[13] Despite reported interest from defending French champions Olympique Lyonnais, Pauleta stayed at Paris-Saint Germain to help them clinch the 2006 French Cup. He scored his 99th and 100th overall goals for PSG in heroic fashion, off a fantastic volley and a textbook header respectively.^[14]

After 2007–08, as PSG faced relegation until the very last matchday (eventually reaching safety at 16th), Pauleta retired from football after his last match on 17 May 2008, with the possible exception being if any of the Big three (S.L. Benfica, Sporting Clube de Portugal and Porto) in Portugal came calling, which they did not.^[15] He retired at 35 without having played one game in Portugal's top flight, subsequently staying at PSG, now in an ambassadorial role.^[16]

In late May 2009, Pauleta played his farewell match, at the Parc des Princes, playing one half each with a team of friends and PSG - former and current - players. His son André, 13, replaced him at the end of the game, netting the final two goals.^[17]

International career

Pauleta was the first national team player to never have played in Portugal's topflight when he made his international debut against Armenia, in August 1997. He would have to wait 18 months for his first national team start, against the Netherlands. His first goals came a month later, when he scored two in a 7–0 rout of Azerbaijan, in a 26 March 1999 Euro 2000 qualifier.

A substitute at the UEFA Euro 2000 tournament, he led the Portuguese attack at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, scoring a hat-trick against Poland, ending with that tally in as many games, as Portugal was ousted in the group stage.

Although he played all but one game on the road to the Euro 2004 final, Pauleta did not score in that tournament finals. However, on 12 October 2005, against Latvia, he became the national team's all-time goal scoring leader, surpassing Eusébio's previous record of 41 goals.^[18]

Pauleta was the European topscorer in the qualifying round for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and, in a friendly match against Cape Verde in May 2006, preluding the final stages, he showed great form as he netted three times, in a 4–1 win. However, after scoring the first national side goal in the group stage match against Angola, he failed to find the net again during the tournament. After Portugal's defeat to Germany in the third place play-off game, Pauleta announced his international retirement.

Statistics

Club

National team

Honours

Club

Deportivo

• Spanish League: 1999–00

Bordeaux

• French League Cup: 2001–02

Paris Saint-Germain

• French Cup: 2003–04, 2005–06
• French League Cup: 2007–08

Country

• UEFA European Football Championship: Runner-up 2004

Individual

• Portuguese Second Division: Top scorer 1995–96
• Spanish Second Division: Top scorer 1996–97
• French League Top scorer: 2001–02, 2005–06, 2006–07
• French League Footballer of the Year: 2001–02, 2002–03
• French League Team of the Year: 2002–03, 2005–06

Orders

• Medal of Merit, Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (House of Braganza)^[19]

Personal life

Pauleta's goal celebration of spreading his arms like wings earned him the nickname The Birdman of the Açores. In November 2005, he signed to become a FIFA ambassador for the SOS Children's Villages, the first Portuguese to do so.^[20]

References

External links

• Stats and profile at Zerozero
• Stats at ForaDeJogo (Portuguese)
• PortuGOAL profile
• BDFutbol profile
• PSG profile (French)
• L'Équipe stats (French)
• Pauleta at National-Football-Teams.com

Portugal squads Portugal squad – UEFA Euro 2000 semi-finalists 1 Vítor Baía (c) • 2 J. Costa • 3 Rui Jorge • 4 Vidigal • 5 F. Couto • 6 Paulo Sousa • 7 Figo • 8 João Pinto • 9 Sá Pinto • 10 Rui Costa • 11 S. Conceição • 12 Espinha • 13 Dimas • 14 Xavier • 15 Costinha • 16 Beto • 17 Bento • 18 Pauleta • 19 Capucho • 20 Secretário • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Quim • Coach: Coelho Portugal squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Vítor Baía • 2 J. Costa • 3 Xavier • 4 Caneira • 5 F. Couto (c) • 6 Paulo Sousa • 7 Figo • 8 João Pinto • 9 Pauleta • 10 Rui Costa • 11 S. Conceição • 12 Viana • 13 Andrade • 14 Barbosa • 15 Nélson • 16 Ricardo • 17 Bento • 18 Frechaut • 19 Capucho • 20 Petit • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Beto • 23 Rui Jorge • Coach: Oliveira Portugal squad – UEFA Euro 2004 Runners-up 1 Ricardo • 2 Ferreira • 3 Rui Jorge • 4 Andrade • 5 F. Couto (c) • 6 Costinha • 7 Figo • 8 Petit • 9 Pauleta • 10 Rui Costa • 11 Simão • 12 Quim • 13 Miguel • 14 N. Valente • 15 Beto • 16 Carvalho • 17 C. Ronaldo • 18 Maniche • 19 Tiago • 20 Deco • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Moreira • 23 H. Postiga • Coach: Scolari Portugal squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place 1 Ricardo • 2 Ferreira • 3 Caneira • 4 Costa • 5 Meira • 6 Costinha • 7 Figo (c) • 8 Petit • 9 Pauleta • 10 H. Viana • 11 Simão • 12 Quim • 13 Miguel • 14 N. Valente • 15 Boa Morte • 16 Carvalho • 17 C. Ronaldo • 18 Maniche • 19 Tiago • 20 Deco • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Santos • 23 H. Postiga • Coach: Scolari