That rare commodity

l'attaquant international portugais Pauleta (D) et le président du club de football du PSG Francis Graille (G) posent avec un maillot du club, le 10 juillet 2003 au Parc des Princes à Paris, après la signature d'un contrat de trois de Pauleta avec le PSG. AFP PHOTO MARTIN BUREAU

Paris Saint Germain striker Pedro Pauleta is an outright goal-hound, a classic number nine who combines the target-man qualities with a line leading resilience and a deadly, cold-blooded finish.

"He lives to score goals," former Bordeaux teammate and veteran of four World Cups Marc Wilmots once said of him.

More men who know a thing or two about football are his current coaches Vahid Halilhodzic of PSG and Luiz Felipe Scolari of Portugal.

Portuguese striker Pauleta controls the ball with his chest under pressure from Italian defender Mark Luliano during the friendly match Italy vs Portugal, 26 April 2000 in Reggio de Calabria. Italy beat Portugal 2-0. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE)

On arrival at PSG Halilhodzic moved mountains to bring the farmer's son to the French capital. Scolari is also on record as convinced of Pauleta's steel and considers him indispensible.

He passed the 50 cap mark in the run up to Euro 2004 and had scored 22 goals at that time.

With his first French club Bordeaux, where he played until July 2003, he was France's leading scorer in both his seasons, scoring 45 goals in 70 league matches, and was also voted French player of the year in both seasons.

World Cup hat-trick

Portugal's Pauleta runs past Polish 'keeper Jerzy Dudek in celebration after scoring his third goal in the 76th minute, 10 June 2002 at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, during first round Group D action between Portugal and Poland in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan. AFP PHOTO/GREG WOOD

His rise to the top was far from meteoric. He was 27 by the time he became a fixture in Antonio Oliveira's Portugal that scored 33 goals in ten games of 2002 World Cup qualifying.

Pauleta provided the one bright point of Portugal's 2002 World Cup, scoring a hat-trick in a 4-0 win over Poland inbetween defeats to the US and South Korea.

Pedro Miguel Carreiro Resende, known as Pauleta, was born in Acores April 28, 2003 and made his league debut in the Portuguse third division in 1994.

Portuguese players, from left, Rui Costa, Pauleta and Luis Figo, run during the first trainning session at Macau Stadium 18 May 2002 at the start of a two-week training session ahead of the soccer World Cup. AFP PHOTO EPA/LUSA MANUEL DE ALMEIDA

A move to Salamanca in 1996 in neighbouring Spain was succesful and after winning promotion in his first season he scored 15 Liga goals and caught the eye of Deportivo La Coruna.

l'attaquant portugais des Girondins de Bordeaux Pedro-Miguel Pauletta (D) déborde le défenseur de l'OM Bruno Ngotty, le 16 septembre 2000 au stade Vélodrome de Marseille, lors du match OM/Bordeaux comptant pour la 8e journée du championnat de France de football de D1.

Despite winning the Spanish first division title with the Galicians he only managed 18 goals in almost 50 matches and was squeezed out with the arrival of Roy Makaay.

But on his debut for Bordeaux in France in the 2000-01 season he bagged a hat-trick and has never looked back.