Francisco José Rodrigues da Costa (born 1 December 1974), known as Costinha (), 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, rugb ...

who played as a

defensive 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 boundari ...

, currently a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

. Best known for his tackling and positioning, as well as his athleticism, stamina and workrate, he played for clubs in Portugal, France, Russia, Spain and Italy. He won eight trophies 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 metropo ...

, including the 2004 Champions League. Costinha played more than 50 times with

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 th ...

, appearing with the national team in one

World Cup 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 two

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

and being part of the squad that reached the final in

Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...

. After retiring, he worked as a manager for Beira-Mar, Paços Ferreira, Académica and Nacional.

Club career

Costinha was born in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

to an

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

n father, who had immigrated to the Portuguese capital in the 1960s. In the summer of 1997, after four years in the third division, he caught the interest of French club

AS Monaco FC Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Frenc ...

who signed him from C.D. Nacional. After a tentative first season he became an important first-team member, helping with 28 matches and one goal to the 1999–2000 conquest of the

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. ...

championship; he was part of a talented side which ousted

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

from 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 competi ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, on the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

. Aged almost 27, Costinha made his

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, ...

debut when he joined

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 Port ...

in 2001, going on to be an instrumental midfield element in the northerners' two consecutive national championships. On 9 March 2004, he scored against and effectively knocked out Manchester United in the Champions League first knockout round; Porto went on to win the title, beating his former side Monaco 3–0 in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. Again a starter throughout most of the 2004–05 campaign, Costinha was sold to

FC Dynamo Moscow FC Dynamo Moscow (''FC Dynamo Moskva'', russian: Дина́мо Москва́ ) is a Russian football club based in Moscow. Dynamo returned to the Russian Premier League for the 2017–18 season after one season in the second-tier Russian Fo ...

in May 2005 for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

4 million alongside teammates Maniche and Giourkas Seitaridis, following

Derlei Vanderlei Fernandes Silva (born 14 July 1975), known as Derlei, is a Brazilian former footballer who played as a striker. He spent most of his 16-year professional career in Portugal (one full decade), having represented all three most impor ...

, who left in January. Unsettled, he moved to

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based i ...

ahead of 2006–07. Costinha was released by the Spaniards in August 2007, joining

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

Atalanta BC Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio, commonly referred to as Atalanta, is a professional football club based in Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy. The club plays in Serie A, having gained promotion from Serie B in 2010–11. Atalanta was founded in 1907 by Lice ...

, where he appeared very rarely throughout his spell – only one match, in his first season – due to serious injuries and later because he was not considered fit to play competitively, despite him having the highest salary in the first team (€700,000 per year, in a contract due to expire in June 2010). The club tried to agree a mutual termination of the contract with him, and also attempted unsuccessfully to rescind it through the Italian Football League.

International career

Costinha made his debut for

on 14 October 1998, in a 3–0 home win against

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

for the

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament wa ...

qualifiers. He was selected for the final stages, where he scored an

injury time 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 t ...

header against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

(same score). He also played at

and 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 th ...

tournaments. During the latter, on 25 June, he took part in the Battle of Nuremberg, being one of four players

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 1–0 round-of-16 victory over the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

after two bookable offences, the second being a handball. Costinha finished his international career with 53

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 Ja ...

and two goals, having been rarely called during the Euro 2008 qualifying stage.

Coaching career

On 23 February 2010, the 35-year-old Costinha left Atalanta by mutual consent. He immediately retired, being named shortly afterwards as

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

director of football 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 ...

, succeeding the sacked

Ricardo Sá Pinto Ricardo Manuel Andrade e Silva Sá Pinto (born 10 October 1972) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a forward, currently manager of Persian Gulf Pro League club Esteghlal. He was known for his fighting spirit, best displayed in hi ...

, his former international teammate. On 9 February 2011, the day after an interview to Sport TV in which he criticised the club's board of directors, he was dismissed. In June 2011, in the same capacity, Costinha joined

Servette FC Servette FC is a Swiss football club based in Geneva, founded in March 1890 with rugby as its first sporting activity, and named after the Geneva district of the same name. The football section was created on 17 January 1900. They play in the ...

, with the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

team being managed by countryman João Alves. It was reported that the pair did not see eye to eye on certain issues, and in November 2011, Alves was relieved of his duties and replaced by

João Carlos Pereira João Carlos Serra Ferreira Pereira (born 11 April 1965) is a Portuguese football manager and former player. As a player he was a winger. Playing career Born in Luanda, Portuguese Angola to Portuguese parents, Pereira started playing football wi ...

. The team's results worsened under Peireira and in April 2012, both Pereira and Costinha were fired, with Alves being reinstated as manager; Costinha reportedly contested the terms of his removal, claiming that his contract extended until June 2013. Costinha was hired as manager of

S.C. Beira-Mar Sport Clube Beira-Mar () is a Portuguese sports club based in Aveiro, Portugal. Its football team currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth national level, having gained promotion by winning the Aveiro FA First Division 2018/19 ...

on 18 February 2013, replacing

Ulisses Morais Ulisses Manuel Nogueira Morais (born 22 November 1959) is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a forward, currently a manager. Playing career Born in the village of Almoster, Santarém, Morais played for 18 years as a senior but only e ...

. He left the club on 22 May, after its top-flight relegation. On 12 June 2013, Costinha was appointed at fellow league team F.C. Paços de Ferreira, who had made the qualifying rounds of the Champions League for the first time in its history; his midfield partner for Portugal and three clubs, Maniche, was hired as assistant. Costinha was sacked after only four months, however, due to poor results. On 20 June 2016, Costinha took over at Académica de Coimbra, recently relegated from the top division. Maniche again assisted him, until leaving for personal reasons in October. On 30 May 2017, Costinha was appointed as manager of C.D. Nacional. In his first year, they were promoted back to the top tier as champions. Costinha left a year later by mutual consent, due to the

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

team's relegation as second from the bottom. Negative highlights included a 10–0 loss against eventual champions

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', Be ...

, on 10 February 2019. Costinha returned to Nacional – again relegated from the main division – on 28 June 2021, on a one-year deal. He left on 20 September, having achieved a win and a draw in five games.

Career statistics

Club

:Sources:

International

:Source:

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Monaco *

: 1999–2000 *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the super cups found in many other countries. His ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

Porto *

: 2002–03, 2003–04 *

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 sea ...

: 2002–03 *

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 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

: 2003–04 *

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 solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

: 2002–03 * Intercontinental Cup:

Portugal *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

runner-up:

Manager

Nacional *

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier Prim ...

: 2017–18

Orders

PRT Ordem de Nossa Senhora da Conceicao de Vila Vicosa Cavaleiro ribbon

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 Am ...

)

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Costinha 1974 births Living people Portuguese sportspeople of Angolan descent Portuguese footballers Footballers from Lisbon Association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Segunda Divisão players Clube Oriental de Lisboa players C.D. Nacional players FC Porto players Ligue 1 players AS Monaco FC players Russian Premier League players FC Dynamo Moscow players La Liga players Atlético Madrid footballers Serie A players Atalanta B.C. players UEFA Champions League winning players UEFA Cup winning players Portugal international footballers UEFA Euro 2000 players UEFA Euro 2004 players 2006 FIFA World Cup players Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Monaco Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Italy Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Russia Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Italy Portuguese football managers Primeira Liga managers Liga Portugal 2 managers S.C. Beira-Mar managers F.C. Paços de Ferreira managers Associação Académica de Coimbra – O.A.F. managers C.D. Nacional managers