Rui Costa facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rui Costa
Costa in 2019
34th President of Benfica
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 October 2021
Preceded by	Luís Filipe Vieira
Personal details
Born	Rui Manuel César Costa (1972-03-29) 29 March 1972 (age 53) Amadora, Portugal
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Occupation	Footballer
Association football career Position(s) Attacking midfielder Youth career 1977–1990 Benfica Senior career* Years Team Apps (Gls) 1990–1994 Benfica 78 (13) 1990–1991 → Fafe (loan) 38 (6) 1994–2001 Fiorentina 215 (38) 2001–2006 AC Milan 124 (4) 2006–2008 Benfica 43 (5) Total 498 (66) International career 1990 Portugal U18 4 (1) 1991 Portugal U20 11 (1) 1992–1994 Portugal U21 19 (7) 1993–2004 Portugal 94 (26) Medal record Men's football Representing  Portugal UEFA European Championship 2004 Portugal Bronze 2000 Belgium-Netherlands FIFA U-20 World Cup Winner 1991 Portugal UEFA European Under-21 Championship 1994 France UEFA European Under-18 Championship Runner-up 1990 Hungary *Club domestic league appearances and goals

Rui Manuel César Costa is a famous Portuguese former football player. He was born on March 29, 1972. Today, he is the president of the well-known Portuguese football club S.L. Benfica.

Rui Costa spent most of his football career playing for Benfica in Portugal. He also played for Fiorentina and AC Milan in Italy. Over 17 years, he won many important trophies. These include a Portuguese league title, a Portuguese Cup, an Italian league title, three Italian Cups, a UEFA Champions League title, and a UEFA Super Cup.

He also played for the Portuguese national team. He played 94 games and scored 26 goals for his country. He represented Portugal in three UEFA European Championships and one FIFA World Cup.

Rui Costa usually played as an attacking midfielder. He was known for his amazing technique, ability to create plays, and scoring goals from midfield. Many people consider him one of the best midfielders in the world. He is also one of Portugal's greatest players ever. In 2004, the legendary player Pelé named him one of the 125 greatest living football players.

Rui Costa's Club Career

Starting at Benfica

Rui Costa started playing football very young. At age five, he joined a local indoor football team. He then tried out for Benfica. The famous Portuguese legend Eusébio was watching the young players. He was very impressed with Rui Costa's skills in just ten minutes.

Rui Costa played for Benfica's youth teams until 1990. In his first professional season, he was loaned to A.D. Fafe for a year.

Returning to Benfica's Main Team

In 1991, Rui Costa returned to Benfica. This happened after Portugal won the Under-21 World Cup, where he scored the winning penalty kick. In his first full season with Benfica, he played regularly. Over the next two seasons, he became a key player. Benfica won two trophies during this time.

He formed a strong midfield team with João Vieira Pinto. In his last two seasons during his first time at Benfica, he won the Taça de Portugal in 1993. He also won the Portuguese First Division title in 1994. This was Benfica's last league title for ten years.

Playing for Fiorentina

After his third season with Benfica's senior team, Fiorentina in Italy wanted to sign him. He was 21 years old when he moved to Italy.

Many clubs wanted to sign Rui Costa from Fiorentina every season. However, he only left Fiorentina one season before the club faced financial problems in 2001. With Fiorentina, Rui Costa won the Coppa Italia twice. He also won a Supercoppa Italiana. In June 2001, Fiorentina agreed to sell Rui Costa to Parma. But Rui Costa did not want to join Parma. Instead, he was sold to AC Milan.

Time at AC Milan

Fatih Terim was the coach of Fiorentina in 2000-01. When he moved to AC Milan, he brought Rui Costa with him. AC Milan paid a large amount of money for Rui Costa. This made him Milan's most expensive player transfer at that time.

On September 27, 2001, Rui Costa scored his first goal for Milan. It was in a 4-0 home win in the UEFA Cup. He helped Milan reach the semi-finals of that competition. He faced some injuries during his first season. His performance was not always consistent.

In his second season at Milan, Rui Costa competed for a starting spot with the new Brazilian player Rivaldo. But Rui Costa earned his place. On September 24, 2002, he provided three assists in a 4-0 Champions League win. A TV commentator even said he was three times better than Zinedine Zidane. He helped Milan win the 2003 Coppa Italia Final and the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final. In the Champions League final, Milan won on penalties. On August 29, he played in the 1-0 win over Porto in the 2003 UEFA Super Cup. He crossed the ball for the only goal.

From 2003-04, Rui Costa's playing time became less. This was because of the talented young Brazilian player Kaká. Rui Costa scored his first three league goals for Milan in their title-winning season.

Coming Back to Benfica

Costa with Benfica in 2007

On May 25, 2006, it was announced that Rui Costa would return to Benfica. He was released from AC Milan. He wanted to fulfill his dream of playing for Benfica again. Rui Costa started his return in a Champions League qualifier in August 2006. He scored in his first home game back. He played regularly for Benfica, but his season was affected by injuries.

Before the end of the season, Rui Costa announced that the next season would be his last as a professional player. Benfica qualified for the Champions League group stage. They played against Rui Costa's former club, AC Milan. He played one last time at the San Siro stadium on September 18, 2007. Rui Costa continued to be a first-team player. His performances earned him the Player of the Month award in September 2007. He also won Benfica's Player of the Year award for 2007.

Rui Costa played his final match on May 11, 2008, at the Estádio da Luz. He was substituted in the 86th minute. The crowd gave him a standing ovation. Both his last season and the one before it ended without winning any trophies.

Rui Costa's International Career

Youth Teams and Euro 96

Rui Costa was part of the Portugal under-20 team. This team won the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship in Portugal. After a draw with Brazil in the final, he scored the winning penalty kick.

On March 31, 1993, Rui Costa played his first game for the senior national team. It was a 1-1 draw against Switzerland. In his third game, he scored his first goal in a 4-0 win against Malta. He was part of the team at UEFA Euro 1996 in England. Portugal was knocked out in the quarter-finals by the Czech Republic.

Euro 2000

Rui Costa was sent off only once in his career. This happened on September 6, 1997, in a World Cup qualifier against Germany. He was shown a red card for leaving the field too slowly when being substituted. Portugal then could not bring on a replacement player. Germany scored minutes later, which meant they qualified for the World Cup instead of Portugal.

In the Euro 2000 qualifiers, Rui Costa scored six goals. At the main tournament in Belgium and the Netherlands, he helped Portugal come back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 against England. Portugal reached the semi-finals.

2002 World Cup and Euro 2004

Portugal was eliminated in the group stage of the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea. Rui Costa was not in the starting lineup after a surprising 3-2 loss to the United States. But he came on as a substitute in the next game. He scored a goal in a 4-0 win against Poland.

Before UEFA Euro 2004 in Portugal, Rui Costa and Luís Figo were not happy. The coach decided to pick Deco, another Brazilian player who played in Rui Costa's position. After being substituted at half-time in another surprising opening loss to Greece, Rui Costa was dropped for Deco in the next match against Russia. He came off the bench in that game and scored a goal from a Cristiano Ronaldo cross. This secured a 2-0 victory. In the quarter-finals against England, he came on as a substitute again. He scored a long-range goal in extra time. The game ended 2-2 and went to penalties. He missed his penalty, but Portugal still won.

Rui Costa retired from international football after Portugal's unexpected loss to Greece in the Euro 2004 final. He scored 26 goals in 94 games for Portugal.

Rui Costa's Playing Style

Experts believe Rui Costa was one of the best midfielders of his time. He is also considered one of Portugal's greatest players ever. He was a classic number 10, meaning he usually played as an attacking midfielder behind the main strikers. He could also play deeper in midfield or as a second striker.

Rui Costa was a fast, skilled, and elegant player. He was known for his excellent dribbling, close control of the ball, smart movement, and great vision. His accurate passing made him a fantastic player for creating goals. He could also create space for his teammates and start his team's attacks. Even though he was mainly a creative player, he could also score goals from midfield. He was good at shooting with both feet, especially from outside the penalty area. He was also good at free kicks and penalty kicks.

Rui Costa in Media

Rui Costa was sponsored by the sports company Nike. He appeared in Nike commercials. In 1996, he was in a Nike commercial called "Good vs Evil." It showed a football game in a Roman amphitheater. He played alongside other famous footballers like Ronaldo and Paolo Maldini. They defended "The Beautiful Game" against a team of evil warriors.

Rui Costa is also featured in EA Sports' FIFA football video game series. He was included in the Ultimate Team Legends in FIFA 16.

After Playing Football

Becoming a Sporting Director

The day after his last professional match, Rui Costa became the director of football at Benfica. In the summer of 2008, he helped bring in new players and a new coach. The next summer, he continued to strengthen the team. Benfica then won the 2009–10 Primeira Liga, their first league title since 2005. They also won the Taça da Liga that season.

Becoming President

On May 14, 2008, Rui Costa was appointed an administrator at Benfica. For the 2020-24 period, he became a vice-president of the club's board. This was part of Luís Filipe Vieira's team. After Vieira stepped down due to an investigation, Rui Costa became the interim president on July 9, 2021.

On October 9, 2021, Rui Costa was elected the 34th president of Benfica. He officially took office the next day. He won with 84.48% of the votes.

During his election campaign, Rui Costa made several promises. These included being more open about player transfers. He also promised to keep players who came from Benfica's youth academy. He wanted to improve the Estádio da Luz stadium.

In his first year as president, the men's football team did not win any trophies. In January 2022, Rui Costa stated that his signature on player contracts under investigation did not mean he was involved in any wrongdoing. During the winter transfer window of 2022-23, Rui Costa promised not to sell central midfielder Enzo Fernández unless his buyout clause was paid. However, Fernández left Benfica through negotiations on January 31, 2023.

After signing coach Roger Schmidt, Benfica won the 2022–23 Primeira Liga. This ended a four-year wait for a trophy. Benfica started the next season by winning the Portuguese Super Cup. However, they did not win any other trophies that season.

Rui Costa's Personal Life

Rui Costa was married to Rute from 1994 to 2013. They have two sons. His older son, Filipe, is the CEO of a football agency. His younger son, Hugo, is also a football player.

Honours and Awards

Benfica

• Primeira Liga: 1993–94
• Taça de Portugal: 1992–93

Fiorentina

• Coppa Italia: 1995–96, 2000–01
• Supercoppa Italiana: 1996

AC Milan

• Serie A: 2003–04
• Coppa Italia: 2002–03
• Supercoppa Italiana: 2004
• UEFA Champions League: 2002–03
• UEFA Super Cup: 2003

Portugal Youth Teams

• FIFA World Youth Championship: 1991

Portugal National Team

• UEFA European Championship runner-up: 2004

Individual Awards

• Toulon Tournament Best Player: 1992
• Toulon Tournament top goalscorer: 1992
• UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 1996, 2000
• FIFA 100 (named one of the 125 greatest living players)
• SJPF Player of the Month: September 2007
• Cosme Damião Awards – Footballer of the Year: 2007
• AC Milan Hall of Fame

See also

In Spanish: Rui Costa (futbolista nacido en 1972) para niños