Player Profile: Petit

Armando Gonçalves Teixeira took the name Petit because he was small and had spent some time living in France, but his diminutive frame has had little bearing on his ferocious performances on the left side of midfield.

A keystone of the Boavista FC side for two years after joining from Gil Vicente FC in July 2000, Petit epitomized the blood-and-guts style of Jaime Pacheco’s team. He made an immense contribution in 2000/01 as the Porto-based club won a first Portuguese championship: he played 26 games, scored three goals, was booked on ten occasions and sent off twice. Petit recorded similar statistics during the next campaign as Boavista finished second before heading south to SL Benfica in summer 2002.

Petit picked up another runners-up medal as Benfica were beaten to the championship by FC Porto, Petit playing 25 SuperLiga games. José Antonio Camacho entrusted Petit with command of Benfica’s midfield before the player sprained his left knee against Molde FK in the UEFA Cup and was ruled out for six weeks. He returned to help the Lisbon club win the Portuguese Cup – their first honor since 1996.

A number of sterling performances in the UEFA Champions League coincided in his first call-up to the Portugal national side for a match against the Republic of Ireland in June 2001, with Coach Antonio Oliveira hoping to make best use of his combination of aggression and cultured passing. He also played three times in a disappointing 2002 World Cup campaign and won a place in the host nation’s Euro04 squad despite not previously being a favorite of Luiz Felipe Scolari, coming off the bench in the wins against Spain and the Netherlands as Portugal reached the final. He remains a regular in the squad.

Petit was decisive for his team to win their first league title in eleven years. He missed just five games as he developed a terrific partnership with the precocious Manuel Fernandes. This partnership could be seen again in Germany.

source: uefa.com