Player Profile: Ricardo Costa
 Full name: Ricardo Miguel Moreira da Costa
Position: Defender
Date of Birth: 16 May 1981
Birthplace: Vila Nova da Gaia, Portugal
Ricardo Costa is a central defender of vast experience, both in club football where he clocked up well over 100 appearances for FC Porto, and at the various levels of the Portugal national team, culminating in representing his country at the pinnacle of international football, at two the World Cups.
It was long thought that he would be the natural successor to Jorge Costa as the boss of Porto’s defence and captain of the team. But competition of the highest order in the shape of Jorge Andrade, Ricardo Carvalho, Pepe and Bruno Alves, among others, severely limited his opportunities for progression at Portugal’s dominant club. He joined Wolfsburg in the summer of 2007.
The defender experienced a mixed time during his two and a half years in the Bundesliga. After initially struggling to adapt to his new surroundings, he managed to establish himself as a reliable performer under coach Felix Magath. Wolfsburg won the German title in 2009, although injury problems meant that Costa did not play as active a role as he may have hoped.
By January 2010, his time at Wolfsburg had come to an end, with the club agreeing to terminate his contract six months before its expiry date. Seeking first-team football in order to secure a World Cup place, Costa inked a six-month deal with high-flying French outfit Lille. After helping Lille to a top-four finish in Ligue 1, winning a place in the Seleccao’s 23-man squad for South Africa in the process, Costa joined Spanish club Valencia in the summer of 2010 on a four-year deal.
by Sean Gillen (04/06/2010)
| Club |
Appearances* |
Goals |
| FC Porto |
75 |
3 |
| Wolfsburg |
42 |
6 |
| Lille |
10 |
1 |
| Valencia** |
0 |
0 |
| |
|
|
| PORTUGAL |
7 |
0 |
* League appearances only
** Up until May 2010
|
