Rui Costa (soccer player)

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Rui Costa
Rui Costa.jpg
Rui Costa, 2007
Personnel
Surname Rui Manuel César Costa
birthday March 29, 1972
place of birth Amadora ,  Portugal
size 180 cm
position midfield
Juniors
Years station
1977-1990 Benfica Lisbon
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1990-1994 Benfica Lisbon 122 (18)
1990-1991 →  AD Fafe  (loan) 38 0(6)
1994-2001 AC Florence 215 (38)
2001-2006 AC Milan 124 0(4)
2006-2008 Benfica Lisbon 43 0(5)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1993-2004 Portugal 94 (26)
1 Only league games are given.

Rui Manuel César Costa [ 'ʀui' manuɛɫ 'sezar' cɔʃta ] (born March 29, 1972 in Amadora ) is a former Portuguese football player .

Initially used in defense, he soon played in attacking midfield. In the national team he belonged together with Luís Figo to the golden generation of Portugal .

Today he works in the sports management of Benfica Lisbon .

Career

society

At the age of five, Costa started playing indoor soccer at Damaia Ginásio Clube. At the age of ten, he did a trial session at Benfica Lisbon . This was overseen by Portugal's football legend Eusébio , who was already enthusiastic about Costa's skills back then. He was then accepted into the Benfica boarding school, where he played until 1990. In his first season in the men's division, he was loaned out to the AD Fafe to gain game practice. At the lower class club he performed well and was a regular player. In 1991 he finally joined the professional squad of Benfica Lisbon, where he stayed until 1994. With Benfica he won the national cup competition in 1993 and the national championship in 1994. In the summer of 1994, Fiorentina offered € 6m for the young midfielder. Benfica, struggling with financial problems at the time, agreed to the move and let Costa move to Italy . Costa played for the Fiorentina for seven years, winning the Italian Cup twice (1996, 2001). During this time he was honored several times as the best tenth in Italy. Through his strong performances he was repeatedly associated with other clubs, but always remained loyal to the ACF . It was only when Florence had to file for bankruptcy in the 2001/02 season that Costa decided to move. The coach at the time in Florence was Fatih Terim . When he moved to AC Milan in the summer of 2001 , he took Costa with him. For Milan, Costa was the most expensive transfer in the club's history. A total of € 42 million was transferred to Florence. Costa has probably had his most successful time with the Rossoneri . In five years there he won the Italian championship , the Coppa Italia , the Supercoppa Italiana, the UEFA Champions League and the European Supercup . In the first two years Costa was undisputedly in the midfield, but then moved more and more into the shadow of the Brazilian child prodigy Kaká . From then on, Costa mostly found himself on the bench and often left the role of the spectator.

On May 25, 2006 it was announced that Costa would return to his hometown club Benfica. Both clubs and the player agreed on a change for the new season. On May 11, 2008, he played his last professional football game against Vitória Setúbal . He then announced his resignation.

National team

Since he scored the decisive penalty in the final against Brazil at the Junior World Cup in 1991 (just recently called up to the national team) and Portugal became Junior World Champion, he has been considered a national hero in his home country . This cup win and the first title won two years earlier (still without Costa) in the youth division, marked the birth of the golden generation of Portugal . Many supporters hoped for great success in the men's field in the coming years. However, the golden generation never made it to a title.

In 1993 he was called up for the first time in the Portuguese national soccer team . After the European Championship in 2004, he announced his departure from the national team. Costa was nominated for the 1996 European Football Championship , the 2000 European Championship , the 2004 European Championship and the 2002 World Championship .

See also:

successes

Rui Costa and the AC Milan team at the awards ceremony after the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League final

National team

Benfica Lisbon

AC Florence

AC Milan

Awards

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Costa, Rui
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Costa, Rui Manuel César
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Portuguese soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH March 29, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH Amadora