Celso Borges Mora (born 27 May 1988), is a Costa Rican professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Liga FPD The Primera División of Costa Rica, commonly known as Fútbol de Primera División (FPD), and Liga Promerica for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional association football division in Costa Rica. It is administered by the Unión de Clubes ...

club

Alajuelense Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA, ), commonly known as Alajuelense and nicknamed La Liga (), is a Costa Rican multisport club based in the borough of El Llano, Alajuela, Alajuela province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Ala ...

and the Costa Rica national team.

Early years

His father is

Alexandre Guimarães Alexandre Henrique Borges Guimarães (born 7 November 1959) is a Costa Rican football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the current manager of América de Cali. Born and raised in Brazil, Guimarães played for the ...

, Brazilian-born,

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

n-raised ex-

and coach. He was born in Costa Rica's capital city San José and during his highschool years he attended Sistema Educativo Saint Clare Highschool, where he also took part in the school's team and was taught everything about soccer by Costa Rican football legend don Juan Varela. His studies were often interrupted by his football training and playing outside the country.

Club career

Saprissa

At the age of 18, Borges made his professional debut for Saprissa on 15 January 2006. He won five national championships with Saprissa.

Fredrikstad FK

On 18 January 2009,

Fredrikstad FK Fredrikstad Fotballklubb (also known as Fredrikstad or FFK) is a Norwegian association football, football club from the town of Fredrikstad. With nine league championships and eleven Norwegian Football Cup, Norwegian Cup wins, FFK is one of the ...

sporting director Tor-Kristian Karlsen confirmed that Borges had signed for them, joining on 1 July when Borges's contract with Saprissa expired.

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad. The city of Fredrikstad was founded in 15 ...

later agreed to pay 1 million kroner (125,000 €) to

Deportivo Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. The team's signature colours are purple ...

so Borges could join the team immediately and play for

, when the season started on 14 April, against the former league champion Stabæk. In March 2011, Borges stated he would leave Fredrikstad during or after the 2011 season.

AIK

On 1 January 2012, it was confirmed that Borges, as a free agent, was to leave

signing a three-year contract with the Swedish football club

AIK Stockholm AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. T ...

. He received the vacant number 10 jersey, last worn by

Martin Kayongo-Mutumba Martin Kayongo-Mutumba (born Martin Mutumba, 15 June 1985) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is best remembered for his time with AIK, with which he won both Allsvenskan and Svenska Cupen in 2009. Born in Sweden ...

. On 1 April 2012, Borges made his first match for

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

, in a match against

Mjällby AIF Mjällby Allmänna Idrottsförening, also known simply as Mjällby AIF, Mjällby or (especially locally) MAIF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Hällevik. The club is affiliated to Blekinge Fotbollförbund and play its ho ...

. He got his first goal for the club in the next game, scoring the game-winning goal against

Kalmar FF Kalmar Fotbollförening, more commonly known as Kalmar FF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Kalmar. The club is affiliated to Smålands Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Guldfågeln Arena. Formed on 15 June 1910, the clu ...

. During the first half of the season he was used as a striker by manager

Andreas Alm Andreas Alm (born 19 June 1973) is a Swedish football coach in charge of Odense Boldklub from June and a former football player. He formerly managed AIK and is also a former player for the club. During his active career he played for the two St ...

. But after the summer vacation he dropped down and started playing as a central midfielder and subsequently was the team's first choice in central midfield. He finished the season ending up as the team's best goalscorer.

Deportivo La Coruña

On 14 January 2015, Borges joined

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. They currently p ...

, signing with them until the end of the season, with an option of a two-year extension. He scored twice in his first official appearance for ''Dépor'', having started in a 1–2 away win against

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Lig ...

on 30 January which also marked his

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

debut.

International career

Borges currently holds the appearance record for the

Costa Rica national football team The Costa Rica national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Costa Rica) represents Costa Rica in men's international football. The national team is administered by the Costa Rican Football Federation (FEDEFUTBOL), the governing body fo ...

with 158

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

, scoring 27 goals. He has represented his country in over 50

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

matches and at the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

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and

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

finals. He has also played at the

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and 2013 Copa Centroamericana, as well as at the

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cups, and the

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario ( pt, Copa América Centenário, french: Coupe Amerique Centennaire, en, Centennial Cup America; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's association football tournament that was hosted by the ...

. Borges played in the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship held in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, in which he scored a goal and was considered among the best players of the tournament. After the tournament he was picked as one of ten players to watch out for in the future. Borges also participated in the

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the score ...

held in Canada. He made his debut for the Costa Rican senior team in a June 2008

match against

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

and, in September of the same year, scored his first international goal against

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

. After featuring prominently during the team's unsuccessful 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, Borges helped the team to a second-place finish at the 2011 Copa Centroamericana, as well as the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup later that year. In June 2014, Borges was named in Costa Rica's squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. During the

round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

, Borges was the first of five Costa Rican players to successfully convert his kick in a 5–3

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

win over

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. In May 2018 he was named in Costa Rica's 23 man squad for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

in Russia.

Personal life

Through his father, Borges was also a Brazilian national until 2017, when he relinquished his Brazilian nationality to become a Spanish citizen. Borges is usually considered one of the most educated players of the

. ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

''' Diego Torres described him as "the brain of Costa Rica" and "a gleaned midfielder with elegant diction", while ''

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal '' Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argentina. Its motto is: "''La Nac ...

'''s Antonio Alfaro called him "the exemplary Costa Rican player." Aside from his native Spanish, Borges can also speak English, Portuguese and Swedish. A heavy metal fan, citing Slipknot,

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...

and

Killswitch Engage Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999 after the disbanding of Overcast (band), Overcast and Aftershock. Killswitch Engage's current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Joe ...

as his favorite bands, Borges plays the drums, and has covered

System of a Down System of a Down (also known as SoaD or simply System) is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in Glendale, California, in 1994. Since 1997, the band has consisted of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards); Daron Malakian (guitar, voc ...

's "

Toxicity Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...

" alongside Peruvian musician Kurt Dyer.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Borges goal (includes unofficial goals scored).''

Honours

Deportivo Saprissa *

Primera División de Costa Rica The Primera División of Costa Rica, commonly known as Fútbol de Primera División (FPD), and Liga Promerica for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional association football division in Costa Rica. It is administered by the Unión de Clubes ...

: Apertura 2005, Clausura 2006, Apertura 2006, Clausura 2007, Apertura 2007, Clausura 2008, Apertura 2008 Costa Rica *

Copa Centroamericana The Copa Centroamericana (, Spanish for "Central American Cup") was the main association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ''Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol'' ( UNCAF), the sport's Central A ...

Individual *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

All-Tournament Team:

* CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

References

External links

* *
Profile
at Nacion.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Borges, Celso 1988 births Living people Costa Rican people of Brazilian descent Footballers from San José, Costa Rica Costa Rican footballers Association football midfielders Deportivo Saprissa players Fredrikstad FK players AIK Fotboll players Deportivo de La Coruña players Göztepe S.K. footballers Liga FPD players Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players Allsvenskan players La Liga players Süper Lig players Segunda División B players Costa Rica under-20 international footballers Costa Rica international footballers 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2011 Copa Centroamericana players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2013 Copa Centroamericana players 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2014 Copa Centroamericana players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Copa América Centenario players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Copa Centroamericana-winning players FIFA Century Club Costa Rican expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Norway Expatriate footballers in Sweden Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Turkey Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Norway Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Spain Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Turkey