Pauleta

The Eagle of the Azores who soared for PSG and Portugal.

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Pedro Miguel Carreiro Resendes (born 28 April 1973), known as Pauleta, is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a striker. During 18 years as a senior he never played in the Primeira Liga, having spent 12 of those campaigns in Spain and France. He had his most successful spell at Paris Saint-Germain, where he scored 109 goals across all competitions. Three times the top goalscorer in Ligue 1, he was also voted twice as the division's player of the season. Pauleta also scored 47 goals in 88 matches for Portugal, a national record at the time of his retirement.

Quick Facts

Full name: Pedro Miguel Carreiro Resendes
Born: 28 April 1973
Birthplace: Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal
Height: 1.80 m / 5 ft 11 in
Position: Striker

Lore & Background

Born in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island in the Azores, Pauleta started his career with local clubs before turning professional in the lower leagues. He was part of FC Porto's youth team for a brief stint yet left due to homesickness, signing his first professional contract with CU Micaelense in 1994. He then moved to second division's G.D. Estoril Praia in 1995. After a switch to Spanish second level side UD Salamanca in 1996, he scored 19 goals as it gained promotion to La Liga, adding a further 15 in his first season in the top flight.

That rate earned him a move to Deportivo de La Coruña in summer 1998. On 1 September 2000, after being tracked by Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Sunderland, Pauleta joined FC Girondins de Bordeaux in France, reportedly for financial and family reasons. He scored three as his new club crushed FC Nantes 5–0 in an away match, and some days later, on 26 September, did the same in a UEFA Cup first round match against Lierse SK. He ended his first season as team top scorer with 26 goals in all competitions, and the Ligue 1's second leading scorer with 20.

In the 2001–02 campaign, Pauleta was the league's top scorer with 22 goals. He also led the team charts in all competitions with 35 successful strikes – a record. Subsequently, he was voted the best player in the French League and was also awarded the 'Oscar of football' by fellow players and coaches, and was named one of the 50 players shortlisted for the 2002 European Footballer of the Year award (Ballon d'Or). Additionally, he won the French League Cup, being instrumental to the success by netting twice in the final.

In 2002–03, Pauleta proved himself another time, scoring 23 league goals and 30 overall. For the second time he won the title for the best player in the league, and was also named in its team of the year. In total, he registered 65 league goals in 98 games and 91 in 130 matches in all competitions for Bordeaux, ranking third all-time upon his departure. Pauleta joined Paris Saint-Germain F.C. ahead of the 2003–04 season, signing a three-year contract in a reported €12 million transfer deal.

Reader's Guide

Pauleta was the first Portugal national team player to never have played in the Portuguese top level when he made his international debut against Armenia, in August 1997. He would have to wait 18 months for his first start, against the Netherlands. His first goals came a month later, when he scored two in a 7–0 rout of Azerbaijan in a UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier on 26 March 1999. A substitute at the Euro 2000 tournament, Pauleta led the Portuguese attack at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, scoring three times against Poland and ending with that tally in as many games, as the nation was ousted in the group stage.

On 19 November 2003, he scored four goals in an 8–0 friendly win over Kuwait in Leiria. Although he played all but one game on the road to the final of Euro 2004, Pauleta did not score in that tournament finals. After the competition, with the international retirements of Fernando Couto, Luís Figo and Rui Costa, he was made captain, a role he held until Figo's return; however, he sporadically played as captain in the latter's absence, including a 2–0 win over Egypt at the Estádio de São Miguel in his hometown on 17 August 2005.

On 12 October, against Latvia, he netted twice to become the national team's all-time goal scoring leader at the time, surpassing Eusébio's previous record of 41. During the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign, Pauleta was the European zone's top scorer and, in a friendly match against Cape Verde in May 2006 preluding the final stages, he showed great form as he netted a hat-trick in a 4–1 win. However, after scoring the side's first 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, he announced his international retirement.

Did You Know?

In November 2005, he signed to become a FIFA ambassador for the SOS Children's Villages, the first Portuguese to do so.
Pauleta scored his first goal in European competition in the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup, netting in a 3–1 home win against Montpellier HSC and repeating the feat in the second leg (2–0).