Rivaldo Costa Amaral Filho, or simply Rivaldo Costa (born May 8, 1978), is a retired

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 ...

ian

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 le ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Club career

Rivaldo Costa is a typical ' journeyman', having played for several clubs in his career, most notably Deportivo de La Coruña of

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 ...

, where he played for the "B" side in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

Brazil

As a youth player with

Botafogo F.R. Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood ('' bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of ...

, Rivaldo Costa was the 1995 Campeonato Carioca de Juniores (Rio de Janeiro Youth Championship) top goalscorer, and won the 1998 Campeonato Carioca de Juniores. Rivaldo Costa joined Araçatuba (São Paulo) in 1999, where he had his first taste of first team football.

Europe

In 2000, Rivaldo Costa was signed by Deportivo de La Coruña to play for their "B" team in the

. His two-year stay was unsuccessful though, as Deportivo "B" finished last in the table, and were relegated to the

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

in 2001. He played for Portuguese Segunda Divisão side

Rio Ave Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Football in Portugal, Portuguese professional Association football, football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which ...

and Italian Serie C2/B side F.C. Forlì, before moving to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

to play for

Al Taawon Al Taawoun Football Club ( ar, التعاون, lit=Cooperation) is a professional multi-sports club based in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia. The football team competes in the Saudi Professional League, the top tier of Saudi Football. The club play the ...

in late 2002.

Asia

Most of Rivaldo Costa's successes in football come from his time in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, most notably in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, where he played for Petrokimia Putra Gresik and Arema Malang in 2003 and 2004 respectively. On July 20, 2003, while playing for Petrokimia Putra Gresik in the ASEAN Club Championship Quarter-Final, Rivaldo scored a goal against SAFFC as his club overcame a 2–0 deficit to win the game 3–2 and qualify for the Semi-Finals of the competition. However,

Gresik Gresik Regency ( older spelling: Grissee, ) is a regency within East Java Province of Indonesia. As well as a large part of the Surabaya northern and western suburbs, it includes the offshore Bawean Island, some 125 km to the north of Java an ...

were knocked out by eventual winners

East Bengal FC East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional multi-sport club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's football team that competes in the Indian Super League, the top fl ...

in the Semi-Final, but in the Third Place Match on July 26, Rivaldo Costa scored first to help his team to a 3–0 win over Perak FA. Despite success in regional competition,

were relegated from the Indonesian Premier Division (Division Utama) at the end of the 2003 season, and Rivaldo Costa joined Arema Malang. A year later, Rivaldo Costa picked up his first major medal, scoring 12 goals as he helped Arema Malang to the Indonesian Division 1 (Divisi Satu) title, but it was a short-lived stay at the club, as he returned to

to play for

Bonsucesso Bonsucesso is a neighborhood in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, 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 ov ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. He returned to play in

four years later, when he was signed by

S-League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), which re ...

club

Geylang United Geylang International Football Club is a professional football club based in Bedok, Singapore, which plays in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was founded in 1973 with the purpose of building a s ...

. On May 20, 2008, Rivaldo Costa scored his first goal for

Geylang Geylang is a planning area and township located on the eastern fringe of the Central Region of Singapore, bordering Hougang and Toa Payoh in the north, Marine Parade in the south, Bedok in the east, and Kallang in the west. Geylang is perha ...

a decisive equaliser in the 94th minute to grab one point in a nail-biting 2–2 draw against

Balestier Khalsa Balestier Khalsa Football Club is a Singaporean professional football club that competes in the Singapore Premier League. Founded in 1898, the club is considered as the oldest football club in the country. History Tracing their origins all th ...

. He scored his first hat-trick for the Eagles in a 5–1 romp over

Dalian Shide Siwu FC Dalian Shide Siwu Football Club () was a Chinese professional football club which was formed to play as a foreign team in Singapore's S.League in 2008. The club was a satellite team of the Chinese Super League club Dalian Shide. Players from Dal ...

on 6 November 2008. Rivaldo Costa and his compatriot Luiz Carlos Machado Júnior have been released from Geylang United following an unsuccessful 2008 season where they finished 6th in the league.

Honours

Club

; Juniores do Botafogo F.R. * Campeonato Carioca de Juniores: 1998 ; Petrokimia Putra Gresik * ASEAN Club Championship: 2003 (3rd place ; Arema Malang * Indonesian Division 1 (Divisi Satu): 2004

Individual

*Campeonato Carioca de Juniores top goalscorer: 1995

Personal life

Rivaldo Costa speaks five languages fluently – his native Portuguese,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, Italian, Spanish, as well as

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

References