.jpg) Costinha in 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Francisco José Rodrigues da Costa[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1974-12-01)1 December 1974 (age 50)[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
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||
Francisco José Rodrigues da CostaOIH (born 1 December 1974), known asCostinha (Portuguese pronunciation:[kɔʃˈtiɲɐ]), is a Portuguese former professionalfootballer who played as adefensive midfielder. He was also amanager.
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 withPorto, including the2004 Champions League.
Costinha played more than 50 times withPortugal, appearing with the national team in oneWorld Cup and twoEuropean Championships and being part of the squad that reached the final inEuro 2004. After retiring, he worked as a manager forBeira-Mar,Paços Ferreira,Académica andNacional.
Costinha was born inLisbon to anAngolan father, who had immigrated to the Portuguese capital in the 1960s.[5] A childhoodSporting CP fan, he began his career in thethird division withClube Oriental de Lisboa,A.D. Machico andC.D. Nacional.[6]
In the summer of 1997, Costinha signed a five-year contract withLa Liga'sValencia CF, but backed out when managerJorge Valdano wanted to loan him toVillarreal CF;[7] he then caught the interest of French clubAS Monaco FC who acquired him through the influence of agentJorge Mendes.[8][6] After a tentativefirst season he became an important first-team member, helping with 28 matches and one goal to the1999–2000 conquest of theLigue 1 championship;[9][10] he was part of a talented side which oustedManchester United from theUEFA Champions League in1998, on theaway goals rule.[11]
Costinha joinedFC Porto on a five-year deal in May 2001,[12] and made hisPrimeira Liga debut on 12 August aged nearly 27; he wassent 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 theChampions League round of 16;[3] Porto went on to win the title, beating his former side Monaco 3–0 inthe final.[15]
Again a starter throughout most of the2004–05 campaign, Costinha was sold toFC Dynamo Moscow in May 2005 for€4 million alongside teammatesManiche andGiourkas Seitaridis, followingDerlei who left in January.[16] The following month, he was suspended after an incident in a training camp in Israel.[17] Unsettled, he moved toAtlético Madrid on a two-year contract ahead of2006–07.[18]
Costinha was released by the Spaniards in August 2007, joiningAtalanta BC ofSerie A,[19] where he appeared very rarely throughout his spell – only one match, in hisfirst 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]
Costinha made his debut forPortugal on 14 October 1998, in a 3–0 home win overSlovakia for theUEFA Euro 2000qualifiers; he entered as a 67th-minutesubstitute in place ofRui Costa.[6] He was selected for the final stages, where he scored aninjury time header againstRomania (same score).[20]
He also played atEuro 2004 and the2006 FIFA World Cup tournaments. During the latter, on 25 June, he took part in theBattle of Nuremberg, being one of four playerssent off in the 1–0round-of-16 victory over theNetherlands after two bookable offences, the second being a handball.[21]
Costinha finished his international career with 53caps and two goals, having been rarely called during theEuro 2008 qualifying stage.[22]
On 23 February 2010, the 35-year-old Costinha left Atalanta by mutual consent.[23] He immediately retired, being named shortly afterwards as Sporting'sdirector of football, succeeding the sackedRicardo Sá Pinto, his former international teammate. On 9 February 2011, the day after an interview toSport TV in which he criticised the club's board of directors, he was dismissed.[24]
In June 2011, in the same capacity, Costinha joinedServette FC, with theSwiss team being managed by countrymanJoão 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 byJoão 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]
Costinha was hired as manager ofS.C. Beira-Mar on 18 February 2013, replacingUlisses Morais.[29] His debut five days later was a 1–0 defeat atVitória de Setúbal.[30] He left the club on 22 May, after itstop-flight relegation.[31]
On 12 June 2013, Costinha was appointed at fellow top-tierF.C. Paços de Ferreira, who had made thequalifying 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 atAcadémica 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]
On 30 May 2017, Costinha was appointed as manager of Nacional.[36] In hisfirst year, they were promoted back to the top tier as champions.[37]
Costinha left a year later by mutual consent, due to theMadeira team'srelegation as second-bottom.[38] Negative highlights included a 10–0 loss against eventual championsS.L. Benfica, on 10 February 2019.[39]
Costinha returned to Nacional – againrelegated 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]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Monaco | 1997–98 | Ligue 1 | 11 | 0 | ||||||||
| 1998–99 | 21 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 1999–00 | 28 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 2000–01 | 24 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Total | 94 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Porto | 2001–02 | Primeira Liga | 29 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2002–03 | 23 | 5 | ||||||||||
| 2003–04 | 27 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 2004–05 | 30 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Total | 109 | 13 | ||||||||||
| Dynamo Moscow | 2005 | Russian Premier League | 10 | 0 | ||||||||
| Atlético Madrid | 2006–07 | La Liga | 24 | 0 | ||||||||
| Atalanta | 2007–08 | Serie A | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 |
| 2008–09 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 238 | 16 | ||||||||||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | 1998 | 1 | 0 |
| 1999 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 8 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 2 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 15 | 0 | |
| 2005 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2006 | 12 | 0 | |
| Total | 53 | 2 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition[44][20] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 June 2000 | GelreDome, Arnhem, Netherlands |  Romania | 1–0 | 1–0 | UEFA Euro 2000 |
| 2 | 7 September 2002 | Villa Park, Birmingham, England |  England | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||
| Beira-Mar | 2013 | 2013 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 18 | −6 | 018.18 |
| Paços Ferreira | 2013 | 2013 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 15 | 31 | −16 | 014.29 |
| Académica | 2016 | 2017 | 48 | 20 | 13 | 15 | 48 | 38 | +10 | 041.67 |
| Nacional | 2017 | 2019 | 81 | 29 | 22 | 30 | 123 | 140 | −17 | 035.80 |
| Career totals | 154 | 53 | 62 | 39 | 198 | 227 | −29 | 034.42 | ||
Monaco
Porto
Portugal
Nacional
Medal of Merit,Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (House of Braganza)[48]
Portugal squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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