Costinha facts for kids

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Costinha

Costinha in 2012
Personal information
Date of birth	(1974-12-01) 1 December 1974 (age 50)
Place of birth	Lisbon, Portugal
Height	1.81 m
Playing position	Defensive midfielder
Youth career
1987–1993	Oriental
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1993–1995	Oriental	32	(3)
1995–1996	Machico	30	(5)
1996–1997	Nacional	30	(4)
1997–2001	Monaco	84	(3)
2001–2005	Porto	109	(13)
2005–2006	Dynamo Moscow	10	(0)
2006–2007	Atlético Madrid	24	(0)
2007–2010	Atalanta	1	(0)
Total		320	(28)
National team
1998–2006	Portugal	53	(2)
Teams managed
2013	Beira-Mar
2013	Paços Ferreira
2016–2017	Académica
2017–2019	Nacional
2021	Nacional
Honours Men's football Representing  Portugal UEFA European Championship 2004 Portugal Bronze 2000 Belgium-Netherlands
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Francisco José Rodrigues da Costa OIH (born 1 December 1974), known as Costinha (Portuguese pronunciation: [kɔʃˈtiɲɐ]), is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He was also a manager.

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, including the 2004 Champions League.

Costinha played more than 50 times with Portugal, appearing with the national team in one World Cup and two European Championships and being part of the squad that reached the final in Euro 2004. After retiring, he worked as a manager for Beira-Mar, Paços Ferreira, Académica and Nacional.

Club career

Early career

Costinha was born in Lisbon to an Angolan father, who had immigrated to the Portuguese capital in the 1960s. A childhood Sporting CP fan, he began his career in the third division with Clube Oriental de Lisboa, A.D. Machico and C.D. Nacional.

Monaco

In the summer of 1997, Costinha signed a five-year contract with La Liga's Valencia CF, but backed out when manager Jorge Valdano wanted to loan him to Villarreal CF; he then caught the interest of French club AS Monaco FC who acquired him through the influence of agent Jorge Mendes. 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 championship; he was part of a talented side which ousted Manchester United from the UEFA Champions League in 1998, on the away goals rule.

Porto

Costinha joined FC Porto on a five-year deal in May 2001, and made his Primeira Liga debut on 12 August aged nearly 27; he was sent off in a 1–0 loss away to Sporting. He went 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 round of 16; Porto went on to win the title, beating his former side Monaco 3–0 in the final.

Later career

Again a starter throughout most of the 2004–05 campaign, Costinha was sold to FC Dynamo Moscow in May 2005 for €4 million alongside teammates Maniche and Giourkas Seitaridis, following Derlei who left in January. The following month, he was suspended after an incident in a training camp in Israel. Unsettled, he moved to Atlético Madrid on a two-year contract ahead of 2006–07.

Costinha was released by the Spaniards in August 2007, joining Atalanta BC of Serie A, 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 Portugal on 14 October 1998, in a 3–0 home win over Slovakia for the UEFA Euro 2000 qualifiers; he entered as a 67th-minute substitute in place of Rui Costa. He was selected for the final stages, where he scored an injury time header against Romania (same score).

He also played at Euro 2004 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup tournaments. During the latter, on 25 June, he took part in the Battle of Nuremberg, being one of four players sent off in the 1–0 round-of-16 victory over the Netherlands after two bookable offences, the second being a handball.

Costinha finished his international career with 53 caps and two goals, having been rarely called during the Euro 2008 qualifying stage.

Coaching career

Director

On 23 February 2010, the 35-year-old Costinha left Atalanta by mutual consent. He immediately retired, being named shortly afterwards as Sporting's director of football, succeeding the sacked Ricardo Sá Pinto, 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, with the Swiss 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. The team's results worsened under Pereira 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.

Beira-Mar, Paços Ferreira and Académica

Costinha was hired as manager of S.C. Beira-Mar on 18 February 2013, replacing Ulisses Morais. His debut five days later was a 1–0 defeat at Vitória de Setúbal. He left the club on 22 May, after its top-flight relegation.

On 12 June 2013, Costinha was appointed at fellow top-tier F.C. Paços de Ferreira, who had made the qualifying rounds of the Champions League for the first time in their history; his midfield partner for Portugal and three teams, Maniche, was hired as assistant. Costinha was sacked after only four months, however, due to poor results.

Costinha took over at Académica de Coimbra, recently relegated from the top division, on 20 June 2016. Maniche again assisted him, until leaving for personal reasons in October.

Nacional

On 30 May 2017, Costinha was appointed as manager of 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 team's relegation as second-bottom. Negative highlights included a 10–0 loss against eventual champions S.L. Benfica, 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

International

Scores and results list Portugal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Costinha goal.

List of international goals scored by Costinha

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	17 June 2000	GelreDome, Arnhem, Netherlands	Romania	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 2000
2	7 September 2002	Villa Park, Birmingham, England	England	1–1	1–1	Friendly

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Monaco

• Ligue 1: 1999–2000
• Trophée des Champions: 1997, 2000

Porto

• Primeira Liga: 2002–03, 2003–04
• Taça de Portugal: 2002–03
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2003, 2004
• UEFA Champions League: 2003–04
• UEFA Cup: 2002–03
• Intercontinental Cup: 2004

Portugal

• UEFA European Championship runner-up: 2004

Manager

Nacional

• LigaPro: 2017–18

Orders

• Medal of Merit, Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (House of Braganza)

See also

In Spanish: Costinha para niños