Ricardo Miguel Moreira da Costa (; born 16 May 1981) is a Portuguese former 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 played mainly as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

but occasionally as a full-back. After making his senior debut with

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

(where he was only a reserve) he went on to play in Germany, France, Spain, Qatar, Greece and Switzerland mainly spending several years with

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

in the third country. Over ten seasons, he amassed

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

totals of 165 matches and seven goals. A

Portugal international The Portugal Open in badminton is an international open held annually in Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Sou ...

since 2005, Costa represented the nation in three

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

Club career

Porto

Costa, a product of

Boavista FC Boavista Futebol Clube, commonly known as Boavista (), is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Porto. Founded on 1 August 1903 by British entrepreneurs and Portuguese textile workers (thus the "FC" being appended – the British way as oppos ...

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

, was born in

Vila Nova de Gaia Vila Nova de Gaia (; cel-x-proto, Cale), or simply Gaia, is a city and a municipality in Porto District in Norte Region, Portugal. It is located south of the city of Porto on the other side of the Douro River. The city proper had a population of ...

Porto District The District of Porto ( pt, Distrito do Porto ) is located on the north-west coast of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Porto, the second largest city in the country. It is bordered by the Aveiro and Viseu districts to the south, Br ...

, and moved to neighbours

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

when he was still an apprentice. He made his

debut in a 20 January 2002

derby match A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees. The intensity of the rivalry can range anywhere from a light hearted banter to serious violen ...

precisely against Boavista (2–0 away loss, 90 minutes played), but never became more than a fringe player, being preferred in the stopper's pecking order in consecutive seasons to namesake

Jorge Jorge is a Spanish and Portuguese given name. It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios'') via Latin ''Georgius''; the former is derived from (''georgos''), meaning "farmer" or "earth-worker". The Latin form ''Georgius'' ...

Pedro Emanuel Pedro Emanuel dos Santos Martins Silva (born 11 February 1975), known as Pedro Emanuel, is a Portuguese retired footballer who played mainly as a central defender, currently manager of Saudi Arabian club Khaleej FC. In his 16-year professional c ...

Pepe Pepe is a pet form of the Spanish name José (Josep). It is also a surname. * People Mononyms * Pepe (footballer, born 1935), real name José Macia, Brazilian footballer *Pepe (footballer, born 1983), real name Képler Laveran Lima Ferreira ...

and Bruno Alves. On 21 May 2003, Costa came on as an early substitute for injured

Costinha Francisco José Rodrigues da Costa (born 1 December 1974), known as Costinha (), is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, currently a manager. Best known for his tackling and positioning, as well as ...

during the 2003 UEFA Cup Final in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, which ended in a 3–2 win.

Wolfsburg

In July 2007, as first-team opportunities appeared few at Porto, Costa signed with

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

on a three-year contract. After a shaky start, he finished the season as an undisputed starter as the side qualified to the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

. Costa scored just 15 seconds after his introduction in a match against

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the DF ...

on 28 September 2008, making it the second-fastest goal ever scored by a substitute. In the summer of 2009, he was about to be transferred to

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at L ...

, but the deal collapsed after the two parties could not reach an agreement; the move was finally cancelled on 29 July, and the player returned to Wolfsburg. On 28 January 2010, although he was being used regularly, Costa joined Lille OSC in France.

Valencia

On 17 May 2010, after having contributed relatively to Lille's fourth place in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

, he moved teams and countries again, joining

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

of Spain on a four-year contract. He scored his first goal on 9 March 2011, putting the ''Che'' ahead at

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhi ...

in 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 ...

of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, a 3–1 defeat (4–2 on aggregate). In the ensuing off-season, Costa was selected by manager

Unai Emery Unai Emery Etxegoien (born 3 November 1971) is a Spanish football manager and former player who is the head coach of Premier League club Aston Villa. After a career spent playing mostly in Spain's Segunda División, Emery transitioned into coa ...

as one of the team's

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. However, things quickly turned sour for the former: he was replaced at

half-time In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

of an eventual 4–3 home win against

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...

, and quickly went from first to fourth choice after unflaterring comments directed against his teammates and management.

Later years

Costa left Valencia by mutual consent on 21 July 2014, as his contract was due to expire in June 2015. One week later, he agreed to a two-year deal at

Al-Sailiya SC Al-Sailiya Sports Club ( ar, نادي السيلية الرياضي) is a Qatari professional football club currently competing in the Qatar Stars League. They are based in Doha and play their home games at Ahmed bin Ali Stadium. History Al Sa ...

. He scored his first and only goal for the Qatari club on 30 October, in a 4–3 home victory over

Al-Wakrah Sport Club Al-Wakrah Sport Club ( ar, نادي الوكرة الرياضي) is a Qatari professional sports club based in Al Wakrah. Their professional football team competes in the Qatar Stars League and play their home games at the Al-Haribo Stadiu ...

PAOK FC P.A.O.K. FC ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΟΚ, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινουπολιτών, '' Panthessaloníkios Athlitikós Ómilos Konstadinoupolitón'', "Pan-Thessalonian Sports club, Athlet ...

signed Costa in late January 2015, following a successful medical test. In an interview to Portuguese newspaper ''

A Bola ''A Bola'' (; en, literally "The Ball", in this context "The Game of Football") is a Portuguese sports newspaper published in Lisbon. History and profile ''A Bola'' was founded in 1945 by Cândido de Oliveira and Ribeiro dos Reis, and was ...

'' a few months after his transfer, he talked about his experience in Asia by stating: "It was a completely different reality, that I couldn't accept. Everything was so non-professional". During his 12-month tenure he appeared in 37 games all competitions comprised, his only goal coming on 27 August 2015 in a 1–1 draw at Brøndby IF in the play-off round of the Europa League. Costa returned to Spain and its top division on 1 February 2016, to join

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021� ...

until June 2017; he vowed to defend his new team "to the death". His first appearance took place six days later, as he played the full 90 minutes in a 1–2 home loss against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. On 5 July 2016, after contributing 14 starts and one goal to his side's eventual

survival Survival, or the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things (or, hypotheti ...

, Costa had his contract terminated by mutual consent. He resumed his career at

FC Luzern Fussball-Club Luzern (), or simply abbreviated to FCL, is a Swiss sports club based in Lucerne (german: Luzern). It is best known for its professional football team, which plays in the Super League, the top tier of the Swiss football league s ...

in Switzerland days later. The 36-year-old Costa returned to Portugal after one decade in June 2017, signing a two-year deal at top-flight club

C.D. Tondela Clube Desportivo de Tondela () is a Portuguese professional football club that plays in Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. They are based in the town of Tondela, located in Viseu District, and play in the Estádio João Cardoso ...

. On 1 July 2019, he returned to Boavista. On 13 August 2020, shortly after having announced his retirement, Costa was named

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

at Boavista. He resigned the following 29 January due to conflicts with the fanbase.

International career

Red card shown to Ricardo Costa at Spain and Portugal match at the FIFA World Cup 2010

Costa played for

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 ...

at under-21 level and was also a part of the Olympic team that played in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. A full international since 2005, he was called up to the squad for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

, where he appeared against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the 3–1 third-place playoff loss. On 10 May 2010, national team boss

Carlos Queiroz Carlos Manuel Brito Leal de Queiroz (; born 1 March 1953) is a Portuguese football coach who currently is the head coach of the Iran national team. He has served as the manager of his native Portugal's national team, the United Arab Emirat ...

announced a provisional list of 24 players in view for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, with Costa being included, thus returning to the squad after a four-year absence. He played twice in the tournament, always as

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

: in the 0–0 group stage draw against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and the round-of-16 defeat to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

(0–1, where he was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in the last minute, receiving a three-match ban for his actions). Costa played and started two games in the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign. He scored his first and only international goal on 11 October 2013 in a 1–1 home draw against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, and was named by manager

Paulo Bento Paulo Jorge Gomes Bento (; born 20 June 1969) is a Portuguese football manager and former player. A defensive midfielder with tackling ability and workrate as his main assets, he played for two of the major three teams in his country, amassin ...

in the final 23-man squad for the tournament in Brazil. On 16 June 2014, Costa became the second Portuguese to play in three

after

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

did so in the same match, coming on for the second half of the first group stage match against Germany, a 4–0 loss. He was then selected to replace the suspended Pepe in a 2–2 draw with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, making a goal-line clearance from Michael Bradley in the second half.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Porto *

: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

: 2002–03, 2005–06 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese football match played since 1979 between the winners of the Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) and Portuguese ...

: 2003, 2004,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

: 2003–04 *

: 2002–03 * Intercontinental Cup: 2004 VfL Wolfsburg *

: 2008–09 Orders *Medal of Merit,

Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa The Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (also known as The Order of Our Lady of Conception of Vila Vicosa; pt, Ordem de Nossa Senhora da Conceição de Vila Viçosa) is a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Braganza, the f ...

(

House of Braganza The Most Serene House of Braganza ( pt, Sereníssima Casa de Bragança), also known as the Brigantine Dynasty (''Dinastia Brigantina''), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Ame ...

)

References

External links

* * *
CiberChe biography and stats
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Ricardo 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Vila Nova de Gaia Portuguese footballers Association football defenders Primeira Liga players Segunda Divisão players Boavista F.C. players FC Porto B players FC Porto players C.D. Tondela players Bundesliga players VfL Wolfsburg players Ligue 1 players Lille OSC players La Liga players Valencia CF players Granada CF footballers Qatar Stars League players Al-Sailiya SC players Super League Greece players PAOK FC players Swiss Super League players FC Luzern players UEFA Champions League winning players UEFA Cup winning players Portugal youth international footballers Portugal under-21 international footballers Portugal international footballers 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2012 players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Olympic footballers of Portugal Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Qatar Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland