Armando (Rilhas) Costa (July 20, 1949 – December 7, 2012) was a

Portuguese Canadian Portuguese Canadians ( pt, luso-canadianos, italic=no) are Canadian citizens of full or partial Portuguese heritage or people who migrated from Portugal and reside in Canada. According to the 2016 Census, there were 482,610 or 1.4% of Canadians ...

singer,

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

coach and retired player. He was the head coach and Director of Soccer Operations for

Brampton City United FC Brampton City United FC is a Canadian soccer team, founded in 2002. The team plays in the Lika Supergroup Open Division. The club plays out of Victoria Park Stadium in the community of Brampton, Ontario. The Metro Lions were the second club from ...

of the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

until a 2-year battle with lymphoma took his life at the age of 63.

History

Armando Costa, also known as Rilhas, was born in 1949 in the village of

Bombarral Bombarral () is a municipality in the District of Leiria in Central Portugal. The population in 2011 was 13,193, in an area of . It includes four civil parishes ( pt, freguesia) that provide local services. History It is known that the area of ...

in central

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. He immigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, settling in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

in 1968 at the age of 18. He was married and had two daughters. Armando made a living of both playing and coaching

, but had also sold

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

Playing career

Armando began his

career early, playing for the local team, Bombarralense, in

as a youth. After immigrating to Canada in 1968, Costa continued his senior career playing for

Toronto First Portuguese Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

of the

Canadian National Soccer League The National Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada that existed from 1926 to 1997. Teams were primarily based in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The league was renamed to Canadian National Soccer League in 1993 following the folding ...

until 1984, becoming the longest serving player in the league and winning a championship with the club. Costa joined the

Buffalo Stallions The Buffalo Stallions were a soccer team based out of Buffalo, New York, that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1979 to 1984. Their home arena was Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. It was the last professional club for which the Portugues ...

of the Major Indoor Soccer League for two seasons, from 1980 to 1982, retiring shortly after.

Coaching career

After retiring from the professional game, Armando earned his certified "A" coaching license and started his coaching career as head of his old club,

, leading the team to an NSL championship in 1990. He would join the coaching staff of the

Toronto Blizzard Toronto Blizzard may refer to: *Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984), the original soccer club, a franchise of the North American Soccer League *Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993), the later club and franchise of the Canadian Soccer League *Toronto Azzurri B ...

the following year in 1991. Costa took over the

Ontario Soccer Association The Ontario Soccer Association, founded in 1901, is one of the oldest and largest sport organizations in Canada. The OSA currently has more than 500,000 registered participants and provides development opportunities for players, coaches, refere ...

's High Performance Academy from 1993 to 1997. He spent one season on the coaching staff of the

Toronto Lynx Toronto Lynx was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1997, the team last played in the 2014 season of the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes ...

in 1998 before making a trip to

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

at the request of

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

sprinter

Ben Johnson Ben, Benjamin or Benny Johnson may refer to: In sports Association football *Ben Johnson (footballer, born 2000), English footballer * Ben Johnson (soccer) (born 1977), American soccer player Other codes of football *Ben Johnson (Australian footb ...

in 1999. Costa, along with a physiotherapist and nutritionist, would join Johnson as the personal coaches to

Al-Saadi Gaddafi Al-Saadi Muammar Gaddafi , also spelt as Al-Saadi Moammer Al-Gaddafi ( ar, الساعدي معمر القذافي; born 25 May 1973) is a Libyan retired professional football player. He captained the national team, but his career was widely att ...

, son of

n leader

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...

. Costa would coach and befriend the young Gaddafi during his time with

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

side

Perugia Calcio Associazione Calcistica Perugia Calcio, or simply Perugia, is a professional football club based in Perugia, Umbria, Italy, that competes in the . Founded in 1905 as Associazione Calcistica Perugia, the club folded in 2005 and were re-founded t ...

, and with the Libyan national football team, eventually becoming the Youth National Teams Technical Director from 2000 to 2005. During this time, Costa was also the head coach of U-17 and U-20 Libyan Olympic teams. Following his time in

, Costa returned home and, after a brief period away from an official role, became the head coach and Director of Soccer Operations for

of the

in 2008 until his death in December 2012.

Musical career

As a traditional

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

singer, Costa released an album in 1988, entitled "''Sou quem Sou''" (''I am who I am'').

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Armando Portuguese musicians Portuguese male musicians Portuguese men's footballers 1949 births 2012 deaths Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) coaches Canadian National Soccer League players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Men's association football midfielders Portuguese football managers Canadian National Soccer League coaches Toronto First Portuguese players Footballers from Leiria District