Diego Costa

Diego Costa Biography

Diego Costa is a Spanish footballer born on 7th October 1988 in Lagarto, Brazil. Costa is primarily a striker or a centre forward and prefers his right foot for shooting. Costa currently plies his trade for Spanish club Atletico Madrid.

Background

Costa started his professional football career at Portuguese club Braga after spending much of his youth career at Brazilian club Barcelona RJ. He was loaned off to Penafiel for the 2006-07 season soon after.

He was then sold to Atletico Madrid in January 2007 and was immediately loaned back to Braga for the rest of the season. He scored the first goal for the club in a UEFA Cup game against Parma.

Costa found first-team football chances at Atletico limited due to which he was loaned off to clubs like Celta Vigo and Albacete where he continued his development in front of goal.

Costa was sold to Real Valladolid in the summer of 2009. He enjoyed a good start at his new club as he scored six times in his first 12 appearances but suffered relegation with the club at the end of the season.

Diego Costa was brought back to Atletico for a second spell as a result of buy-back clause but found opportunities limited in the 2010-11 season. He spent the first half of the next season injured but was loaned off to Rayo Vallecano for the second half where he scored 10 times in 16 appearances.

Debut

Costa was called up to the Brazil national team by coach Luiz Felipe Scolari for friendlies against Italy and Russia in March 2013. He made his debut against Italy coming on as a substitute for Fred.

Costa then iterated his desire to appear for Spain and was liable to do so since he had not represented Brazil in any competitive football match. Costa made his Spain debut in an international friendly against Italy on 5th March 2014 which Spain won 1-0.

Rise to Glory

Costa established himself at Atletico Madrid in the 2012-13 season as he ended the season with 20 goals. He was an important figure in the club’s Copa del Rey success where he scored three goals over the two-legged win against Sevilla and netted another one in the final.

In 2013-14, Costa helped Atletico to win the La Liga. He scored the only goal in the Madrid derby at the Santiago Bernabeu. He scored four goals in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League as well and then scored in thrice in the round of 16 games against AC Milan. He scored in the semi-final win over Chelsea as well.

Costa joined Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea at the start of the 2014-15 campaign. He scored 20 goals in the Premier League and helped the club with the league. After a below par 2015-16 season, he helped Antonio Conte’s Chelsea win the Premier League, netting another 20 goals.

Low Points

The 2014 FIFA World Cup was supposed to be one of the highest points of Costa’s career. He had decided to represent defending champions Spain over hosts Brazil. It turned out to be one of the lowest points of his career as Spain crashed out of the tournament in the group stage. Costa did not score in any of the three group stage matches.

Club Career

Costa made his professional debut for Braga in 2006. He was loaned off to Penafiel for the 2006-07 season, scoring five times. He signed for Atletico Madrid the following season and was loaned off to Celta Vigo and Albacete.

Costa signed permanently for Real Valladolid in 2009 and grabbed nine goals for them. He returned to Atletico as a result of a buy-back clause but found starting opportunities limited. He was loaned off to Rayo Vallecano for the second half of the 2011-12 season and scored 10 times.

He spent another couple of seasons at Atletico in which he scored 56 goals. He signed for Chelsea at the start of the 2014-15 season. He had 63 goals to his name for Chelsea when he decided to return to Atletico for the third time in the 2017-18 season.