Jorge Costa

Jorge Paulo Costa Almeida (born 14 October 1971), known as Costa, is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a central defender.

Nicknamed Bicho (animal) and Tanque (tank^[1]) by his colleagues and fans for his aggressive and physical playing style, he played most of his professional career with Porto, being team captain for several seasons and winning a total of 24 major titles, notably eight national championships and the 2004 UEFA Champions League.

Having gained 50 caps for Portugal, Costa represented the nation at one World Cup and one European Championship. After retiring, he worked as a manager for several clubs.

Club career

Born in Porto, Costa made his professional debuts with F.C. Penafiel, on loan from hometown's FC Porto. The following season he was also loaned, to fellow top flight club C.S. Marítimo, playing 31 games including a controversial one in the Estádio das Antas where he scored an own goal; despite it being clearly unintentional the accusations of scoring for his team continued, forcing Porto's president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa to forbid further loaned players to play against Porto, a decision that stood for several decades.

In the 1992–93 campaign, Costa finally joined FC Porto, slowly making his way. Five seasons later he switched to jersey No. 2, previously worn by João Domingos Pinto, also being named team captain as the veteran retired. His career three only met four black spots: two serious knee injuries (during 1995–96, which ruled him out of UEFA Euro 1996 and during 1997's pre-season in Sweden) and a feud with coach Octávio Machado early in 2001–02, which forced him into "exile" at Charlton Athletic.^[2] However, the image of Costa as the captain went untouched, and Porto fans turned against Machado with massive criticism of his team management and coaching, eventually forcing him outside the club.

Additionally, in 1996–97's UEFA Champions League, Costa was involved in an incident with A.C. Milan's George Weah on 20 November 1996, with the Liberian breaking his nose, alleging that he had been racially abused.^[3] Costa strenuously denied the accusations of racism and was not charged by UEFA as no witnesses could verify Weah's allegations, not even his Milan teammates. Weah, on the other hand, was suspended for six matches, and later attempted to apologise to Costa but this was rebuffed by the Portuguese, who considered the charges of racist insults levelled against him to be defamatory and took the Liberian to court;^[4] the incident resulted in the latter being sidelined for three weeks, also having to undergo facial surgery.

With José Mourinho in charge, Costa returned to Porto next season, and was unanimously chosen as captain of a side that went on to win a championship-cup-UEFA Cup treble, making him the third Porto captain in a row to lift cups at international level (following Pinto and Fernando Gomes). The player's winning streak continued as the next season he lifted the Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup.

In January 2006, after having been deemed surplus to requirements by new coach Co Adriaanse, Costa signed for Standard Liège from Belgium, reuniting with former Porto teammate Sérgio Conceição,^[5] and helped his new side to a runner-up finish in the league. He decided to retire from the game in June after alleging personal reasons, despite having a running contract until 2007.

In the 2006–07 season, Costa began his coaching career with S.C. Braga, first as assistant to Rogério Gonçalves, whom he replaced in February 2007. In his first season he led the Minho side to the fourth place and the semifinals of the domestic cup, also reaching the round-of-16 in the UEFA Cup, being ousted by Tottenham Hotspur 4–6 on aggregate.

After again guiding Braga to the UEFA Cup group stage, Costa was fired midway through his second year.^[6] He then moved to second level's S.C. Olhanense in the following campaign, eventually finishing the season as champions and returning the Algarve team to the first division after 34 years.^[7] After helping Olhanense to the 13th position in the following campaign – thus safe from relegation – he left the club, joining another top division club, Académica de Coimbra.

On 21 December 2010, Costa announced his departure from Académica and his retirement from coaching, citing personal reasons.^[8] The team was placed in ninth position after the 14th round, eventually narrowly escaping relegation. In May 2011, however, he announced his comeback, signing a contract with Romania's CFR Cluj.^[9]

On 24 October 2012, AEL Limassol FC appointed Costa as their new manager, on the eve of a Europa League group stage tie against Fenerbahçe SK.^[10] In the following summer he moved teams but stayed in Cyprus, penning a 1+1 deal with Anorthosis Famagusta FC.^[11]

From 2014 until November 2016, Costa coached the Gabon national team, being ousted from the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations group stage after one win and two losses.^[12]

International career

With Portugal, Costa and Fernando Couto were considered the best defensive duo in UEFA Euro 2000. The former retired from international football after the 2002 FIFA World Cup, having gained fifty caps; in the latter competition he scored an own goal as the national side lost 2–3 to the United States,^[13] eventually exiting in the group stage.

Previously, in 1991, Costa was an undisputed starter as the Portuguese team won the FIFA U-20 World Cup.^[14][15]

Jorge Costa: International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	15 November 2000	Estádio Primeiro de Maio, Braga, Portugal	Israel	2–0	2–1	Friendly
2	13 February 2002	Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Barcelona, Spain	Spain	0–1	1–1	Friendly

Club statistics

Honours

Player

Club

Porto

• Primeira Liga: 1992–93, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2002–03, 2003–04
• Taça de Portugal: 1993–94, 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004
• UEFA Champions League: 2003–04
• UEFA Cup: 2002–03
• Intercontinental Cup: 2004

Country

Portugal

• FIFA U-20 World Cup: 1991

Manager

Club

Olhanense

• Segunda Liga: 2008–09

Cluj

• Liga I: 2011–12

References

External links

• Jorge Costa at thefinalball.com
  
• Jorge Costa profile at ForaDeJogo
  
• Jorge Costa manager stats at ForaDeJogo
• Jorge Costa career statistics at Soccerbase
  
• Jorge Costa at National-Football-Teams.com

Portugal squads
Portugal squad – UEFA Euro 2000 semi-finalists 1 Vítor Baía (c) 2 J. Costa 3 Rui Jorge 4 Vidigal 5 F. Couto 6 Paulo Sousa 7 Figo 8 João Pinto 9 Sá Pinto 10 Rui Costa 11 S. Conceição 12 Espinha 13 Dimas 14 Xavier 15 Costinha 16 Beto 17 Bento 18 Pauleta 19 Capucho 20 Secretário 21 Nuno Gomes 22 Quim Coach: Coelho Portugal squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 V. Baía 2 J. Costa 3 Xavier 4 Caneira 5 F. Couto (c) 6 P. Sousa 7 Figo 8 João Pinto 9 Pauleta 10 Rui Costa 11 S. Conceição 12 Viana 13 Andrade 14 Barbosa 15 Nélson 16 Ricardo 17 Bento 18 Frechaut 19 Capucho 20 Petit 21 Nuno Gomes 22 Beto 23 Rui Jorge Coach: Oliveira

Gabon squad – 2015 Africa Cup of Nations
1 Ovono 2 Appindangoyé 3 Lengoualama 4 Musavu-King 5 Ecuele Manga 6 Obiang 7 Evouna 8 Palun 9 Aubameyang 10 Bulot 11 Madinda 12 Kanga 13 Mbingui 14 Oto’o 15 H. Ndong 16 Mfa Mezui 17 Biyogo Poko 18 N'Doumbou 19 Zé Ondo 20 Sokambi 21 Rogombé 22 D. N'Dong 23 Bitséki Coach: Costa