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Jorge Costa
Portuguese footballer (1971–2025) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Jorge Paulo Costa Almeida (14 October 1971 – 5 August 2025) was a Portuguese professional football player and manager.
Nicknamed Bicho (animal) and Tanque (tank) by his colleagues and fans for his aggressive and physical playing style as a central defender,[2] he spent most of his career with Porto, being captain for several seasons and winning a total of 24 major titles, notably eight Primeira Liga championships and the 2004 Champions League. He also had one-year spells in England with Charlton Athletic and Belgium with Standard Liège.
Having earned 50 caps for Portugal, Costa represented the nation at one World Cup and one European Championship. He also won the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship with the under-20 team.
After retiring, he worked as a manager for several clubs as well as the Gabon national team. From June 2024 until his death, he was director of football at Porto.
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Club career
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Born in Porto, Costa made his professional debut with Penafiel on loan from hometown club Porto.[3] The following season he was also loaned, to fellow Primeira Liga side Marítimo, appearing in 31 games including a controversial one in the Estádio das Antas where he scored an own goal; despite it being clearly unintentional the accusations of scoring for his team continued, forcing Porto's president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa to forbid further loaned players to play against them, a decision that stood for several decades.[4]
Costa finally joined Porto in the 1992–93 campaign, eventually becoming a starter. Five seasons later he switched to jersey No. 2, previously worn by João Pinto, also being named team captain as the veteran retired.[3] His career three only met four black spots: two serious knee injuries (during 1995–96, which ruled him out of UEFA Euro 1996 and during 1997's pre-season in Sweden) and a feud with coach Octávio Machado early in 2001–02, which forced him into "exile" at Charlton Athletic.[5] However, the image of Costa as the captain went untouched, and Porto fans turned against Machado with massive criticism of his team management and coaching, eventually forcing him outside the club; during his time in South London, he played in defence alongside Luke Young, Mark Fish and Jonathan Fortune, in a back-line remembered for its pun name of "Young Fish Costa Fortune".[6][7][8][9]
Additionally, in 1996–97's UEFA Champions League, Costa was involved in an incident with AC Milan's George Weah on 20 November 1996, with the Liberian breaking his nose, alleging that he had been racially abused.[10] Costa strenuously denied the accusations of racism and was not charged by UEFA as no witnesses could verify Weah's allegations, not even his Milan teammates. Weah, on the other hand, was suspended for six matches, and later attempted to apologise to Costa but this was rebuffed by the Portuguese, who considered the charges of racist insults levelled against him to be defamatory and took the Liberian to court;[11] the incident resulted in the latter being sidelined for three weeks, also having to undergo facial surgery.[12]
Costa returned to Porto in the summer of 2002 as José Mourinho was now in charge, and was unanimously chosen as captain of a side that went on to win a championship-Taça de Portugal–UEFA Cup treble, making him the third Porto skipper in a row to lift cups at international level (following Pinto and Fernando Gomes).[13] The player's winning streak continued as the next season he lifted the Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup.[14][15][16][17]
In January 2006, after having been deemed surplus to requirements by new coach Co Adriaanse, Costa signed for Standard Liège from Belgium, reuniting with former Porto teammate Sérgio Conceição[18] and helping his new team to a runner-up finish in the league. He decided to retire in June for personal reasons, despite having a contract running until 2007.[19]
Costa made 383 competitive appearances and scored 25 goals for his main club, winning eight leagues, five Portuguese cups and as many Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira.[20]
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International career
Costa made his full international debut for Carlos Queiroz' Portugal on 11 November 1992 in a 2–1 friendly win over Bulgaria in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, France.[21] He played alongside Fernando Couto as the team reached the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2000 in Belgium and the Netherlands.[22]
Costa scored the first of two goals on 15 November 2000, in a 2–1 exhibition defeat of Israel at the Estádio 1º de Maio in Braga.[23] He retired from international football following group-stage elimination at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan, having played 50 games;[24][25] in that competition, he scored an own goal in the 3–2 loss to the United States.[26]
Previously, in 1991, Costa was first-choice as Portugal won the FIFA U-20 World Cup.[27] In the final against Brazil, he converted his team's first attempt in the 4–2 penalty shoot-out victory at the Estádio da Luz.[28]
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Coaching career
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2000s
In the 2006–07 season, Costa began his coaching career with Braga, first as assistant to Rogério Gonçalves, whom he replaced in February 2007. In his first season he led the Minho side to the fourth place[29] and the semi-finals of the domestic cup,[30] also reaching the round of 16 in the UEFA Cup, being ousted by Tottenham Hotspur 6–4 on aggregate.[31]
After again guiding Braga to the UEFA Cup group stage, Costa was fired midway through his second year.[32] He moved to Segunda Liga club Olhanense ahead of 2008–09, eventually finishing as champion and returning the Algarveans to the first division after 34 years.[33] After helping them to 13th place the following campaign – thus safe from relegation – he left, joining fellow top-division Académica de Coimbra.[34]
Costa announced his departure from Académica and his retirement from coaching on 21 December 2010, citing personal reasons.[35] The team was placed ninth after the 14th round, eventually narrowly escaping relegation.
2010s
In May 2011, Costa reneged on his retirement and signed a contract with Romania's CFR Cluj.[36] He was dismissed the following 8 April with the team five points clear in first place with nine games to go in Liga I, following a 5–0 home loss to nearest challengers Dinamo București.[37]
On 24 October 2012, AEL Limassol appointed Costa as their new manager, on the eve of a Europa League group stage tie against Fenerbahçe.[38] He stayed in Cyprus the following summer, agreeing to a 1+1 deal with Anorthosis.[39]
Costa coached the Gabon national team from 2014 until November 2016, being ousted from the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations group stage after one win and two losses.[40] He returned to club duties on 15 May 2017, being appointed at Sfaxien.[41] He moved back to his homeland in the following off-season, signing at Segunda Liga side Arouca[42] and leaving by mutual consent less than three months later due to a poor string of results.[43]
On 22 November 2017, Costa was hired at Tours, last-placed in France's Ligue 2.[44] At the end of the season, with the club relegated in the same position, he resigned with a year remaining on his contract.[45]
In August 2018, Costa signed for Mumbai City for the upcoming campaign of the Indian Super League.[46] After a third-place finish, the team lost 5–2 on aggregate to Goa in the play-off semi-finals, conceding all of those goals in the first leg at home.[47] On 5 March 2020, after finishing one place off qualification for the post-season, he was allowed to leave.[48]
2020s
On 23 September 2020, Gustavo Ndong Edu, president of the Equatoguinean Football Federation, announced that Costa would be the new coach of the national team.[49] Six days later, however, he decided to join Romania's Gaz Metan Mediaș instead.[50][51]
Costa returned to the Portuguese top tier on 4 February 2021, replacing the dismissed Sérgio Vieira at Farense on a four-month contract.[52] In spite of relegation to the second division,[53] he signed a new deal;[54] on 30 August, however, he left by mutual consent after only one point in four matches to start the new campaign.[55]
On 3 February 2022, Costa returned to Sfaxien for the remainder of the season.[56] He was dismissed on 7 April after a six-game winless run, concluding with a 1–1 draw at home to Hammam-Sousse.[57]
Costa went back to his country's second tier on 7 September 2022, being hired by Académico de Viseu in place of Pedro Ribeiro.[58] On 20 December, he led the team to a 2–1 home win over top-flight club Boavista to make the semi-finals of the Taça da Liga for the first time;[59] they were eliminated there by Porto, as in the quarter-finals of the national cup.[60] In spite of collecting 20 victories in 34 matches, and with his side placed fourth (17th at the time of his arrival), he left by mutual consent on 20 April 2023.[61]
On 10 June 2023, Costa was confirmed as the manager of AVS of the same league; he was the first manager of the club after Vilafranquense relocated to Vila das Aves due to poor infrastructure.[62] On 7 December, he received a 17-day suspension and a fine for, five days prior, having insulted and threatened the referee in a match against Benfica B.[63] He eventually achieved top-division promotion in the play-offs, beating Portimonense 4–2 on aggregate.[64]
Costa returned to Porto in June 2024, as director of football.[65]
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Death
On 5 August 2025, while present at a pre-season training session of the Porto first team, Costa suffered a heart attack. Shortly after having been admitted to the University Hospital of São João, he died at the age of 53.[66][67][68]
Career statistics
Club
International
- Scores and results list Portugal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Costa goal.
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Managerial statistics
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Honours
Player
Porto
- Primeira Liga: 1992–93, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2002–03, 2003–04[20]
- Taça de Portugal: 1993–94, 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03[20]
- Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001[20]
- UEFA Champions League: 2003–04[71]
- UEFA Cup: 2002–03[71]
- Intercontinental Cup: 2004[71]
Portugal
Individual
Manager
Olhanense
CFR Cluj
Individual
- CNID Breakthrough Coach: 2008–09[75]
- Liga Portugal 2 Manager of the Month: October/November 2022,[76] September 2023,[77] December 2023[78]
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References
External links
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