Alberto Facundo "Tino" Costa (born 9 January 1985) is an Argentinian 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 le ...

who plays as a

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

Deportivo Morón Club Deportivo Morón is an Argentine sports club located in the city of Morón, Buenos Aires. Deportivo Morón's football team currently plays in Primera B Nacional, the second division of the Argentine football league system. The club was fo ...

. He is known for his technical skill, penalty-taking, his

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offence ...

ability and his pin-point passing.

Club career

Early career

Costa, commonly known as ''Tino'', began his career in Argentina playing for local club La Terrazza. At the age of 17, he made the highly risky decision of leaving the country for the island of

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

to play for

Racing Club de Basse-Terre Racing Club de Basse-Terre is a football club in Guadeloupe, based in Basse-Terre. They play in Guadeloupe's second division, the Promotion d'Honneur Regionale. Achievements * Guadeloupe Championnat National: 3 :: 1967–68, 1998–99, 2003� ...

in the

Guadeloupe Division d'Honneur The Guadeloupe Division of Honour ''(French: Guadeloupe Division d'Honneur)'' is the top football league in Guadeloupe. It was created in 1952 and is headed by the Guadeloupean League of Football. 14 teams participate in this league. The last ...

. During his time there, he went to school and worked at a supermarket. Costa spent two years at the island club helping the club win the league and cup double. He played in the 2004 edition of the

Coupe de Guadeloupe The Coupe de Guadeloupe is the top knockout tournament of the Guadeloupe football. Finals The list of cup finals: *1941/42 : Racing Club 4–2 Redoutable *1943 : ''not finished'' *1944/45 : ''not played'' *1946 : La Gauloise 1–0 CS Moulie ...

final helping his club defeat AS Gosier by a score of 3–1. After two years in Guadeloupe, his great play caught the attention of

Racing Club de Paris Racing Club de France Football (, also known as Racing Paris, RCF Paris, Matra Racing, Racing Club, or Racing) is a French association football club based in Colombes, a suburb of Paris. Racing was founded in 1882 as a multi-discipline spo ...

, who offered the player a trial. Racing, who were playing in the third-tier

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, signed the player and Costa played one season for the club appearing in 28 total matches scoring 3 goals. The following season, Costa joined

Pau FC Pau Football Club (, Bearnese ), known simply as Pau, is a French professional association football club based in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, capital of Béarn. They compete in Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. Pau FC were found ...

, another club in the National. At Pau, he appeared in 39 total matches scoring 4 goals with Pau barely avoiding relegation in both years he spent there. After leaving Pau, Costa joined his third National club in

FC Sète FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

. There, he became a household name in the league appearing in 29 total matches scoring 3 goals helping Sète come within seven points of promotion. He also assisted on several goals and collected nine yellow cards. For his efforts, he was named the league's top player, which led to interest from clubs in the higher divisions.

Montpellier

Costa signed with

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

for the 2008–09 season, after agreeing to a three-year contract. He made his debut for the club in their opening match of the season, playing the full 90 minutes in their loss to

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

. He scored his first career goal for the club a few weeks later in their 4–0 demolition of

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

. He was held scoreless for the majority of the fall season, before returning to form mid-season scoring a brace against

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

. In a span of six weeks, during the latter part of the season, Costa scored goals against

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

Châteauroux Châteauroux (; ; oc, Chasteurós) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate Ch ...

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

, and Clermont. As a result, Montpellier were among the head of the pack for promotion to

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 ...

. The club's future was determined on the final day of the season with a 2–1 victory over Strasbourg, who were also fighting for promotion. Costa scored the eventual game-winning goal in the 19th minute helping Montpellier return to Ligue 1 play. For the entire season, Costa scored 8 goals and assisted on 11 goals. He was nominated for the Ligue 2 Player of the Year award, but lost out to the

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

ian

Paul Alo'o Paul Alo'o Efoulou (born 12 November 1983) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a striker and manager. International career Paul Alo'o made his debut for the Cameroon national team on 28 March 2009 against Togo in a qu ...

. Following the season, several Ligue 1 clubs began inquiring for Costa's services, most notably

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, ''les sang et or'' (''the blood and gold''), come ...

and

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

. However, Costa refuted any claims of leaving the city of

and signed a contract extension on 1 July 2009 until the year 2013. Despite missing the club's opening 1–1 draw with

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

, Costa made his Ligue 1 debut against

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

scoring the club's opening goal in the 60th minute. The match ended in a 2–2 draw. The following week, he scored again, this time in a 2–0 victory over

Sochaux Sochaux () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Sochaux lies east of Montbéliard, and southeast of Paris. Population Inhabitants are known as ''Sochaliens''. Economy Soc ...

. Two weeks later, he converted a 39th-minute penalty against Lens. The goal turned out to be the winner.

Valencia

On 1 July 2010, Costa joined

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 ...

club

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 ...

on a four-year contract for a transfer fee of €6.5 million. He scored his first goal for Valencia on his debut in 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 ...

. The midfielder shot accurately from 30 yards out, and Valencia went on to win 0–4 at

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği (), commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Bursa. Formed in 1963, the club colours are green and white, with home kits usually featuring both colours in a striped pattern. In th ...

. He scored his first league goal for Valencia against Getafe on 14 November 2010. On 18 December he scored his second league goal from 35 yards out when he converted a free-kick against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

Spartak Moscow

On 5 June 2013, it was announced that Costa left Valencia to go to Russian giants

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * WB ...

for €7 million transfer fee.

Loans to Genoa and Fiorentina

It was confirmed that Costa would join

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 Coppa ...

side

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

for the 2015–16 season. On 15 January 2016, Fiorentina confirmed the six-month loan signing of Costa with the view to a permanent option at the end of the season.

San Lorenzo

On the midnight 21 July 2016 it was announced that Costa left Spartak to go to Argentinian giants

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. However, he only appeared in eight matches for the club during his spell.

Almería

On 1 August 2017, Costa signed a one-year deal with

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001, when it was renamed ''Unión D ...

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

. He contributed with two goals in only 14 appearances, as his season was marred by injuries.

Career statistics

Honours

Racing Club B-T *

: 2003–04 *

: 2004

References

External links

* *
Ciberche stats and bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Tino 1985 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers Association football midfielders Racing Club de Basse-Terre players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Racing Club de France Football players Pau FC players FC Sète 34 players Montpellier HSC players La Liga players Segunda División players Valencia CF players UD Almería players Russian Premier League players FC Spartak Moscow players Serie A players Genoa C.F.C. players ACF Fiorentina players Argentine Primera División players San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers San Martín de Tucumán footballers Atlético Nacional footballers Deportivo Morón footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Guadeloupe Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate footballers in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Guadeloupe Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Russia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy