Helder Postiga looks to spearhead a revamped attacking Kolkata outfit

 “Scandalous”, a furious and fuming Shola Ameobi told the BBC reporter. Helder Postiga’s 80th minute winner at Goodison Park meant that England’s U-21 team will not participate in the 2004 European Championship. It was David Platt and his team’s last chance to book their place in the finals to be hosted by Germany the following year, and Postiga took that away. What hurt more was the fact that Postiga had steered Hugo Viana’s cross into the net with his hand. Portugal won the game, qualified for the main tournament and finished third.

It was only a glimpse of the love-hate relationship Helder Postiga will go on to have with this country in the British Isles. Just a couple of months before scoring that controversial goal, in the summer of 2003, the Portuguese striker was signed by Tottenham Hotspur amidst much fanfare.

Postiga was part of what was considered to be the ‘Platinum generation’ of Portuguese football. The Southern European nation produced a group of fantastically talented youngsters during the period – the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Hugo Viano, Ricardo Quaresma, Simao Sabrosa and Tiago Mendes –and big things were expected from them.

Two of those players – Ronaldo and Postiga – arrived in England in the same transfer window, accompanied by a lot of hype. Postiga had won the treble with Porto in the previous season under their new manager Jose Mourinho and had contributed 18 goals in all competitions. Naturally Spurs fans were excited upon his arrival, but that excitement certainly did not last very long.

Poor form and the arrival of Frederic Kanoute pushed him down the pecking order at White Hart Lane as Postiga ended the campaign with just two goals in all competitions. He went on to face a lot of criticism and mockery from fans and media across England. It seemed like his Premier League career might head to a premature and sad end.

Football has a wicked sense humour though, and often delivers it with a punch of irony.

Despite his poor performances for Spurs, Luiz Felipe Scolari maintained his faith in Postiga and called him up for the Euro 2004 squad. It was in the Quarter-finals when Portugal faced England at the Estadio do Dragao. Postiga was yet to make an appearance in the tournament at that point, as Pauleta was the first choice striker for Portugal.

A star-studded England team took on an excitingly talented Portuguese team, and Postiga watched on from the bench. An early strike from Michael Owen gave England the lead in the first half and despite all their effort Portugal found it hard to break down their opponent’s defence.

In a surprising decision, Scolari replaced Portugal’s captain Luis Figo with Postiga in the 75th minute of the game; a lot of eyebrows were raised. With the host nation facing an exit from the tournament, Scolari opted to provide an out-of-form Postiga with his first appearance in Euro 2004, and that too by replacing one of the most iconic players in Portugal’s history.

English fans breathed in a sign of relief, while the English commentators did not fail to mention his awful goal scoring record for Tottenham last season. How possibly can Postiga make a difference?

Eight minutes later Postiga scored the equalizer!

Simao’s cross from the left wing was met with a powerful header from the Portuguese striker and the home fans went into a delirium. England were stunned and the match went into extra-time. Both Rui Costa and Frank Lampard scored in that period and the match ended 2-2.

During the penalty shoot-out, Postiga was called up to take Portugal’s sixth penalty. The score was 4-5 in the favour of England and with all the pressure on his shoulder, Postiga scored with a Panenka chip!

Portugal won the game in the end and the man who knocked out England’s U21 team in the qualification round of the European Championship with a controversial goal, has also helped in knocking out England’s senior team with one of the most cheeky, almost arrogant, penalty one can witness.

Despite his heroics, Postiga was sold back to Porto couple of weeks later, in a swap deal with Pedro Mendes moving the other way. The striker failed to make a significant impact back at his old club as he scored just three goals.

After spending four fairly disappointing seasons with Porto, Postiga played for a lot of clubs across Europe – in France, Greece, Spain and Italy – including a spell with Sporting back in his homeland. He has almost lived up to the term – a journeyman footballer.

Strangely though, Postiga has always performed better for his national team than for his clubs. Portugal’s lack world class strikers have been well documented and it has always provided Postiga with an opportunity to make his way back into the national team. He has made good use of those opportunities as well - the forward is currently the sixth highest goal scorer in the history of Portugal’s national team. In fact his goal per match ratio is close to what Cristiano Ronaldo has achieved so far in his career.

The criticism that Postiga has faced throughout his career has mostly been about one dimensional game. He is a conventional striker who provides almost nothing in build-up play. In modern-day football, a striker needs to be flexible in the roles he can play for his team. At times he might need to drop deep and create space and chances for others, help in building up play from the midfield and hold-up the ball – Postiga has never been comfortable in doing any of these.

His lack of contribution in other departments means that when he has a bad day in front of goal, his team will virtually have to play with ten men on the pitch.

After appearing in the 2014 World Cup, Helder Postiga was signed up by Spanish side Deportivo de La Coruna at the start of the 2014-15 campaign. The 33-year-old forward failed to have any significant impact as his team finished a lowly 16th in La Liga – Postiga scored just two goals in all competitions.

When Atletico de Kolkata announced his signing earlier this year, it did generate a lot of interest, especially with people having watched him play for his national team as recently as the World Cup. But most of the fans are perhaps a bit sceptical about what he can achieve in this league.

His goal scoring record in the last two seasons has been dismal – six goals in 44 appearances for Valencia, Lazio and Deportivo. But the standard of defenders in the ISL will certainly not match those he faced in La Liga or Serie A, and this will provide Postiga with a better chance to succeed.

The Portuguese international is a direct replacement for Fikru Teferra, who joined Chennaiyin FC at the start of this season. Fikru was crucial to Atletico’s success last season and Antonio Habas will hope that Postiga can fill up that void.

Postiga will not be as physical as Fikru, but he is a better poacher in front of the goal. But unlike the Ethiopian, Postiga cannot create chances on his own – he will need a playmaker behind him. With Luis Garcia missing from the squad this season, Habas will have to find a new creative mastermind at the center of the park.

It will also be interesting to see if Postiga is paired with Iain Hume upfront. Habas used a 4-2-3-1 formation last season with Fikru playing as the lone striker. Postiga’s hold-up play isn’t as good though, and he will need someone alongside him. This might force a formation change next season with Hume dropping a bit deep when required.

Atletico de Kolkata had a solid defensive record last season and now with Postiga and Hume in their ranks, Habas might have finally found a solution to the lack of goals in the team. This certainly makes them a more well-rounded side this time around.