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When going gets tough, the tough get going. Diego Costa has remained a living testament of this statement to the footballing folklore time and again. Yet, seldom has he received the appreciation he deserves. He is a striker who dominates defenses at will with his muscular power and has always come good in crunch situations.
Diego Costa has the ability to keep possession of the ball for a longer spell. The physical authority along with the possession play grants him time and space to score at will. However, he has failed to justify his talent until now.
The momentum that he has started to gain since the World Cup in Russia might bring him the glory he deserves. Let us have a quick look at his career so far.
1. Early days: Brazil to Portugal to Spain
Diego Costa was born in Brazil. He attracted the attention of Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes in the under-18 Taça de São Paulo tournament. Mendes offered him a contract with the Portuguese club, Braga.
Mendes is a super agent representing some of the great football players like Cristiano Ronaldo, David de Gea and James Rodriguez. This man has a visionary knack for identifying budding talents. He has been named Best Agent of the Year at the Global Soccer awards for a record six consecutive years from 2010 to 2015.
Costa was keen to grab the opportunity and after an initial hesitation from his father, he moved to Portugal. He joined Braga in 2006 but didn't get playing time due to lack of youth team at the club. In 2007, Mendes managed a transfer for Diego to Atletico Madrid.
Then Atletico Madrid President, Enrique Cerezo, presented him as "the new Kaka". However, Costa failed to leave a mark and was loaned to Celta Vigo and other clubs for successive years till 2010.
2. Life at Atletico and playing for Spain
When Spain became World Champions in 2010, Costa was still trying to find his feet on the football field. His injury-prone body and confrontational behaviour were continuously pushing him back whenever he tried to gain momentum.
Finally, he found his spark in the Copa del Rey in the 2012-13 season. He edged past Cristiano Ronaldo to become the top scorer in the tournament. He then started the next season on a positive note with a brace against Sevilla in their 3-1 win in the first match of the league.
He also appeared for his home country in 2 friendly matches in the year 2013. However, after looking into his sensational performances with the Spanish club Atletico Madrid in the early season of 2013-14, Royal Spanish Football Federation had officially requested FIFA to allow Costa to play for Spain. Diego Costa responded with a letter to Brazilian Football Confederation requesting a permission to join the Spanish National Team.
The controversy surrounding Costa's decision to play for Spain didn't go well, both for Costa and Spain. Spain was below par in the 2014 World Cup and so was Costa. He was even booed by Brazilian fans.
After the World Cup in 2014, he switched leagues and joined Chelsea in the Premier League.
3. Hello England, hello stardom, hello controversies
In an injury-marred season of 2014-15, he played well finding the back of the net 20 times in his first season with Chelsea. It was not a bad return after all from the striker. He won the Premier League and the League Cup with Chelsea that season.
If the first season was riddled with injuries, Costa successfully dedicated the next season (2015-16) to a series of controversies. The first of the controversies came against Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny.
...Costa was involved in controversy in a 2–0 home win over Arsenal; he repeatedly slapped Laurent Koscielny and chest-bumped him to the ground, and then confronted Gabriel, who allegedly tried to kick him and was sent off, though footage from ESPN Brazil later showed that little to no contact actually took place. (Source: Wikipedia)
Later in the season, he received his first red card in a Chelsea jersey when he was found confronting and biting Gareth Barry of Everton.
During his stay at Chelsea from 2014-15 to 2017-18 season, he made 120 appearances and scored 58 goals and assisted 24. Given the intensity of the Premier League, this return was a good number for the Blues.
Costa's tryst with controversies and injuries had pegged him back from being considered one of the best from that Chelsea era. The nature of physical play has always been his friend and foe simultaneously. Controversies remained his partner throughout an otherwise what would have been a glorious career. His confrontations with opponents and coaches were not pleasing anyone.
Costa eventually returned to Atletico in 2018.
4. Return to Spain
Diego Costa had passed the medical and signed the contract with Atletico in September 2017. However, due to a transfer ban imposed on Atletico, Costa was eligible to play for them only after January 2018.
He took only 5 minutes to register his return with the La Liga giants. He scored after being subbed for Angel Correa in the Copa del Rey in the round-of-16 game against Lleida Esportiu.
Since the turn of the year, Costa has been in good touch. His exploits in the World Cup is a testament to his evolution this season. When Spain was under pressure in the World Cup opener against Portugal, he scored a brace to put them in the driving seat. Unfortunately, Cristiano Ronaldo's heroics saved the day for Portugal. He went on to score a fantastic 3 goals in the tournament.
An unlikely elimination of Spain by the hosts Russia in the round of 16, prohibited Costa from displaying his class further.
5. The Resurrection
He acted like a quick fox to control the long ball from Diego Godin while edging past Sergio Ramos and then took it past napping Raphael Varane. He was then presented with a golden opportunity in a one on one situation with Keylor Navas. The thumping strike from a tight angle zoomed past Navas only for the mercy of the back of the net.
Diego Costa started the season with a bang.
He saved and helped Atletico to beat arch-rivals Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup with a brace. Real Madrid bounced back and took the lead by 63rd minute. Time was running out for the Los Colchoneros. Costa then positioned himself at the right place at the right time when he got his brace by poking an excellent cross from Angel Correa.
He has always delivered under pressure. The way he has started to score, it is only a matter of time that he gets his due recognition from the football fraternity. It is time Diego Costa should be taken seriously by all the teams across leagues. One should not be surprised if he takes Europe by storm this season. We will have to wait and watch if he could bring Atletico Domestic and European glory.
