Costinha

Portuguese footballer (born 1974) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Francisco José Rodrigues da Costa OIH (born 1 December 1974), known as Costinha (Portuguese pronunciation: [kɔʃˈtiɲɐ]), is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He was also a manager.

Full name Francisco José Rodrigues da Costa[1]
Date of birth (1974-12-01) 1 December 1974 (age 51)[1]
Place of birth Lisbon, Portugal[1]
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Quick facts Personal information, Full name ...
Costinha
Costinha in 2012
Personal information
Full name Francisco José Rodrigues da Costa[1]
Date of birth (1974-12-01) 1 December 1974 (age 51)[1]
Place of birth Lisbon, Portugal[1]
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position Defensive midfielder
Youth career
1987–1993 Oriental
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1995 Oriental 32 (3)
1995–1996 Machico 30 (5)
1996–1997 Nacional 30 (4)
1997–2001 Monaco 84 (3)
2001–2005 Porto 109 (13)
2005–2006 Dynamo Moscow 10 (0)
2006–2007 Atlético Madrid 24 (0)
2007–2010 Atalanta 1 (0)
Total 320 (28)
International career
1998–2006 Portugal 53 (2)
Managerial career
2013 Beira-Mar
2013 Paços Ferreira
2016–2017 Académica
2017–2019 Nacional
2021 Nacional
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Portugal
UEFA European Championship
Runner-up2004 Portugal
Bronze medal – third place2000 Belgium-Netherlands
* Club domestic league appearances and goals
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Best known for his tackling and positioning,[3] as well as his athleticism, stamina and workrate,[4] he played for clubs in Portugal, France, Russia, Spain and Italy. He won eight trophies with Porto, including the 2004 Champions League.

Costinha played more than 50 times with Portugal, appearing with the national team in one World Cup and two European Championships and being part of the squad that reached the final in Euro 2004. After retiring, he worked as a manager for Beira-Mar, Paços Ferreira, Académica and Nacional.

Club career

Early career

Costinha was born in Lisbon to an Angolan father, who had immigrated to the Portuguese capital in the 1960s.[5] A childhood Sporting CP fan, he began his career in the third division with Clube Oriental de Lisboa, A.D. Machico and C.D. Nacional.[6]

Monaco

In the summer of 1997, Costinha signed a five-year contract with La Liga's Valencia CF, but backed out when manager Jorge Valdano wanted to loan him to Villarreal CF;[7] he then caught the interest of French club AS Monaco FC who acquired him through the influence of agent Jorge Mendes.[8][6] After a tentative first season he became an important first-team member, helping with 28 matches and one goal to the 1999–2000 conquest of the Ligue 1 championship;[9][10] he was part of a talented side which ousted Manchester United from the UEFA Champions League in 1998, on the away goals rule.[11]

Porto

Costinha joined FC Porto on a five-year deal in May 2001,[12] and made his Primeira Liga debut on 12 August aged nearly 27; he was sent off in a 1–0 loss away to Sporting.[13] He went on to be an instrumental midfield element in the northerners' two consecutive national championships.[14] On 9 March 2004, he scored against and effectively knocked out Manchester United in the Champions League round of 16;[3] Porto went on to win the title, beating his former side Monaco 3–0 in the final.[15]

Later career

Again a starter throughout most of the 2004–05 campaign, Costinha was sold to FC Dynamo Moscow in May 2005 for 4 million alongside teammates Maniche and Giourkas Seitaridis, following Derlei who left in January.[16] The following month, he was suspended after an incident in a training camp in Israel.[17] Unsettled, he moved to Atlético Madrid on a two-year contract ahead of 2006–07.[18]

Costinha was released by the Spaniards in August 2007, joining Atalanta BC of Serie A,[19] where he appeared very rarely throughout his spell – only one match, in his first season – due to serious injuries and later because he was not considered fit to play competitively, despite him having the highest salary in the first team (€700,000 per year, in a contract due to expire in June 2010). The club tried to agree a mutual termination of the contract with him, and also attempted unsuccessfully to rescind it through the Italian Football League.[4]

International career

Costinha made his debut for Portugal on 14 October 1998, in a 3–0 home win over Slovakia for the UEFA Euro 2000 qualifiers; he entered as a 67th-minute substitute in place of Rui Costa.[6] He was selected for the final stages, where he scored an injury time header against Romania (same score).[20]

He also played at Euro 2004 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup tournaments. During the latter, on 25 June, he took part in the Battle of Nuremberg, being one of four players sent off in the 1–0 round-of-16 victory over the Netherlands after two bookable offences, the second being a handball.[21]

Costinha finished his international career with 53 caps and two goals, having been rarely called during the Euro 2008 qualifying stage.[22]

Coaching career

Director

On 23 February 2010, the 35-year-old Costinha left Atalanta by mutual consent.[23] He immediately retired, being named shortly afterwards as Sporting's director of football, succeeding the sacked Ricardo Sá Pinto, his former international teammate. On 9 February 2011, the day after an interview to Sport TV in which he criticised the club's board of directors, he was dismissed.[24]

In June 2011, in the same capacity, Costinha joined Servette FC, with the Swiss team being managed by countryman João Alves.[25] It was reported that the pair did not see eye to eye on certain issues, and in November 2011, Alves was relieved of his duties and replaced by João Carlos Pereira.[26] The team's results worsened under Pereira and in April 2012, both Pereira and Costinha were fired, with Alves being reinstated as manager;[27] Costinha reportedly contested the terms of his removal, claiming that his contract extended until June 2013.[28]

Beira-Mar, Paços Ferreira and Académica

Costinha was hired as manager of S.C. Beira-Mar on 18 February 2013, replacing Ulisses Morais.[29] His debut five days later was a 1–0 defeat at Vitória de Setúbal.[30] He left the club on 22 May, after its top-flight relegation.[31]

On 12 June 2013, Costinha was appointed at fellow top-tier F.C. Paços de Ferreira, who had made the qualifying rounds of the Champions League for the first time in their history; his midfield partner for Portugal and three teams, Maniche, was hired as assistant.[32] Costinha was sacked after only four months, however, due to poor results.[33]

Costinha took over at Académica de Coimbra, recently relegated from the top division, on 20 June 2016.[34] Maniche again assisted him, until leaving for personal reasons in October.[35]

Nacional

On 30 May 2017, Costinha was appointed as manager of Nacional.[36] In his first year, they were promoted back to the top tier as champions.[37]

Costinha left a year later by mutual consent, due to the Madeira team's relegation as second-bottom.[38] Negative highlights included a 10–0 loss against eventual champions S.L. Benfica, on 10 February 2019.[39]

Costinha returned to Nacional – again relegated from the main division – on 28 June 2021, on a one-year deal.[40] He left on 20 September, having achieved a win and a draw in five games.[41]

Career statistics

Club

More information Club, Season ...
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[42][2]
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Monaco1997–98Ligue 1110
1998–99212
1999–00281
2000–01240
Total 943
Porto2001–02Primeira Liga293
2002–03235
2003–04272
2004–05303
Total 10913
Dynamo Moscow2005Russian Premier League100
Atlético Madrid2006–07La Liga240
Atalanta2007–08Serie A1000----10
2008–090000----00
2009–100000----00
Total 1000000010
Career total 23816
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International

More information National team, Year ...
Appearances and goals by national team and year[43]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Portugal 199810
199900
200081
200110
200221
200380
2004150
200560
2006120
Total532
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Scores and results list Portugal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Costinha goal.
More information No., Date ...
List of international goals scored by Costinha
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition[44][20]
117 June 2000GelreDome, Arnhem, Netherlands Romania1–01–0UEFA Euro 2000
27 September 2002Villa Park, Birmingham, England England1–11–1Friendly
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Managerial statistics

As of 16 May 2019[45][2]
More information Team, From ...
Team From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Beira-Mar 2013 2013 112271218−6018.18
Paços Ferreira 2013 2013 1422101531−16014.29
Académica 2016 2017 482013154838+10041.67
Nacional 2017 2019 81292230123140−17035.80
Career totals 154536239198227−29034.42
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Honours

References

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