Rui Costa

At age five, Costa joined the infant indoor football team of Damaia Ginásio Clube. Costa tried his luck at Benfica. Within ten minutes of training, Portugal legend Eusébio, who was supervising the youngsters, was impressed with Costa's skills. Up until 1990, Costa played for Benfica's youth squads. In his first full season, he was loaned to A.D. Fafe on a season-long deal.[10]

In 1991, after the Under-21 World Cup, which Portugal won after a penalty kick scored by Costa, he returned to Benfica. In his first full season with Benfica, he was featured regularly in Benfica's team. In his next two seasons, his role in the team would prove to be pivotal as Benfica captured two trophies. He formed a formidable midfield partnership with João Vieira Pinto. During his last two seasons with Benfica in his first spell with the club, he won the Taça de Portugal in 1993 and the Portuguese First Division title in 1993–94.[11][12] This would be Benfica's last league title for 11 years.[13]

At the end of his third season in Benfica's senior squad, Fiorentina offered 1,200 million escudos (approximately €6 million) for the young midfielder. Since Benfica were struggling with financial problems, Costa had to leave.

Despite the heavy competition with the best midfielders in that time such as Zinedine Zidane, Costa was named the best number 10 player in Serie A a few times. His departure from Fiorentina was discussed every season, since many clubs constantly showed interest in signing him. However, he only left Fiorentina one season before their bankruptcy in the 2001–02 season. With the Florentine club, Costa won the Coppa Italia twice, also winning a Supercoppa Italiana. In June 2001, Fiorentina agreed to sell both Costa and Francesco Toldo to Parma for 140 billion lire.[14] Despite both players refusal to join, Costa and Toldo were sold to AC Milan and Inter Milan, respectively, for the same total transfer fee.

Fatih Terim was the coach of Fiorentina in the 2000–01 season. When he was leaving Fiorentina for AC Milan, he took Costa with him,[15] paying 85 billion lire (€43,898,836) for the player.[16][17] In so doing, Costa became Milan's most expensive transfer of all-time.

On 27 September 2001, Costa scored his first goal for Milan to open a 4–0 home win (6–0 aggregate) in the first round of the UEFA Cup against BATE Borisov.[18] He added further goals in wins over CSKA Sofia (second round)[19] and Hapoel Tel Aviv (quarter-finals)[20] in a run to the last four.

Costa scored his first domestic goal on 18 December 2002, equalising in a 5–1 win (6–2 aggregate) against Ancona at the San Siro in the second leg of the last 16 of the Coppa Italia.[21] In the 6–3 aggregate final win over Roma in May, he played only 30 minutes as a substitute as Brazilians Rivaldo and Serginho were preferred in attacking midfield.[22][23] This was to rest him for the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final against Juventus, in which he was substituted injured for Massimo Ambrosini near the end of regulation time in a goalless draw that the Rossoneri won on penalties at Old Trafford.[24] On 29 August, he played in the 1–0 victory over Porto in the 2003 UEFA Super Cup, in which he crossed for the only goal by Andriy Shevchenko.[25]

From 2003–04, Costa's playing time was limited by the emergent Brazilian youngster Kaká.[26] He contributed his first three league goals to Milan's title-winning campaign, starting with one in a 5–0 home win over Ancona on 25 January.[27]

Costa with Benfica in 2007

On 25 May 2006, Costa's return to Benfica to play in the upcoming season was announced in a press conference. He had been released from Milan after both the player and the club reached an agreement to end his contract. Costa gave up of his €4.6 million per year contract with Milan after he had dreamt of his return to Benfica year after year.[28][29][30] His return saw former Benfica and Portugal international Eusébio praise Costa's return.[31] Costa's first match back saw him start in a 2006–07 UEFA Champions League qualifier against Austria Wien in August 2006.[32] The return leg saw Costa score in his return to the Estádio da Luz in the 21st minute. Benfica would go on to win 3–0 and clinch a place in the group stages of the Champions League.[33][34][35]

Following the start of the season, Costa would suffer a serious injury which would keep him out of action for three months.[36] Costa returned in January 2007, in a Taça de Portugal fourth round tie against Oliveira do Bairro[37][38] Following his return, he was used as a regular in Benfica's starting XI under manager Fernando Santos. His first season would see Benfica finish behind rivals Porto and Sporting CP in the Primeira Liga. In other competitions Benfica participated in, the club would be eliminated in the round of 16 in the Taça de Portugal and bow out of the UEFA Cup against Espanyol.

Prior to start of the 2007–08 Primeira Liga, Costa would announce that the 2007–08 season would be his last as a professional. Despite the sacking of Fernando Santos at the beginning of the league campaign, Costa would remain a first team regular under José Antonio Camacho. The first match of the season saw Costa be decisive in Benfica reaching the Champions League group stage. He scored two goals in a qualifier against Copenhagen in the first leg.[39] He would also play an important part in the second leg where Benfica defeated the Danish side 1–0 away from home to seal Benfica's third consecutive presence in the group stage.[40]

Costa would score his first league goal since his return to Benfica against C.D. Nacional in September 2007.[41] His displays in the league would earn him the SJPF Player of the Month award for September 2007. Following qualification to the group stage, Benfica was drawn against Costa's former club Milan. The inaugural match of the group stage in September 2007 saw Benfica take on the Rossoneri at the San Siro, where Milan won 2–1.[42] The return fixture on matchday 5 would see Milan visit the Estádio da Luz, where the teams drew 1–1.[43] Benfica would exit the competition in third place behind Milan and Celtic, thereby dropping into the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup.

In the new year, Benfica dropped various points along their campaign to Académica de Coimbra, Braga, Porto, Sporting CP and União de Leiria, which effectively dropped them out of the title race. Their failure to compete for the title resulted in Benfica setting their priorities to capture third place which secured a Champions League qualification. Benfica would fail to capture third place, which instead would go to newly promoted Vitória de Guimarães. Benfica would also drop out of the round of 16 of the UEFA Cup to Spanish side Getafe. Under Costa's captaincy, Benfica would also fall short in the 2007–08 Taça de Portugal, where they lost to Sporting in the semi-finals despite Costa scoring in a match which ended 5–3.[44] Costa played his final match on 11 May 2008 at the Estádio da Luz against Vitória de Setúbal. He was substituted in the 86th minute to a standing ovation from the spectators.[45]

On the day after his final professional game, Costa was presented as director of football at Benfica, hiring Quique Sánchez Flores as head coach and being responsible for the formation of the team in the next season.

During the summer 2008 transfer window, Costa was able – already as director of football – to sign a few well-known players, such as Argentine playmaker Pablo Aimar and bringing in Spanish winger José Antonio Reyes and Honduran striker David Suazo in on loan.[62]

On the following Summer, Costa further increased his efforts to build a more strengthened Benfica team following a disappointing league campaign in the previous season.

He would make several high-profile signings such as Argentine striker Javier Saviola, Brazilian attacking midfielder Ramires and Spanish defensive midfielder Javi García, along with experienced Portuguese manager Jorge Jesus.[63][64][65][66] His major signings would prove to be successful as Benfica would win the Primeira Liga in the 2009–10 season for the first time in five years. Benfica would also win the Taça da Liga in the same season defeating Porto in the final.

On 14 May 2008, Costa was appointed an administrator of Benfica SAD.[67] For the 2020–24 quadrennial, he became a vice-president of the club's board of directors, as part of Luís Filipe Vieira's list for a sixth consecutive mandate.[68] After acting as interim president of the club and its SAD from 9 July 2021,[69] in the aftermath of Vieira suspending his presidency due to arrest,[70][71] Costa was elected 34th president of Benfica on 9 October, assuming office the following day. With 84.48% of the votes, he defeated candidate Francisco Benitez, who received 12.24%.[72][71] During election campaign, Costa had promised, among many promises, a forensic audit of the club's SAD, a revision of the club's statutes – both promises yet to be fulfilled[73] – transparency regarding football transfers, retention of players "made in Seixal", a reduction of the number of players, a maximum wage for players, improvements to Estádio da Luz, etc.[74] Including his interim role, men's football season was trophyless under his first year of presidency.

Scores and results list Portugal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Costa goal.

List of international goals scored by Rui Costa[80]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	19 June 1993	Estádio do Bessa, Porto, Portugal	Malta	2–0	4–0	World Cup 1994 Qualifying
2	5 September 1993	Kadrioru Stadium, Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	1–0	2–0	World Cup 1994 Qualifying
3	7 September 1994	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	1–0	2–1	Euro 1996 Qualifying
4	15 August 1995	Sportpark Eschen-Mauren, Eschen, Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein	3–0	7–0	Euro 1996 Qualifying
5				6–0
6	15 September 1995	Estádio da Luz (1954), Lisbon, Portugal	Republic of Ireland	1–0	3–0	Euro 1996 Qualifying
7	24 January 1996	Parc des Princes, Paris, France	France	2–1	2–3	Friendly
8	9 October 1996	Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania	Albania	3–0	3–0	World Cup 1998 Qualifying
9	19 August 1998	Estádio de São Miguel (Ponta Delgada), Ponta Delgada, Portugal	Mozambique	1–0	2–1	Friendly
10				2–0
11	6 September 1998	Puskás Ferenc Stadium, Budapest, Hungary	Hungary	3–1	3–1	Euro 2000 Qualifying
12	31 March 1999	Sportpark Eschen-Mauren, Eschen, Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein	1–0	5–0	Euro 2000 Qualifying
13				5–0
14	9 June 1999	Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal	Liechtenstein	7–0	8–0	Euro 2000 Qualifying
15				8–0
16	18 August 1999	Estádio Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal	Andorra	1–0	4–0	Friendly
17	9 October 1999	Estádio da Luz (1954), Lisbon, Portugal	Hungary	1–0	3–0	Euro 2000 Qualifying
18	29 March 2000	Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria, Portugal	Denmark	1–1	2–1	Friendly
19	16 August 2000	Estádio do Fontelo, Viseu, Portugal	Lithuania	3–1	5–1	Friendly
20	3 September 2000	Kadrioru Stadium, Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	1–0	3–1	2002 World Cup Qualifying
21	10 June 2002	Jeonju World Cup Stadium, Jeonju, South Korea	Poland	4–0	4–0	2002 World Cup
22	16 October 2002	Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden	Sweden	3–2	3–2	Friendly
23	11 October 2003	Estádio do Restelo, Lisboa, Portugal	Albania	3–2	5–3	Friendly
24	29 May 2004	Estádio Municipal de Águeda, Águeda, Portugal	Luxembourg	3–0	3–0	Friendly
25	16 June 2004	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	Russia	2–0	2–0	Euro 2004
26	24 June 2004	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	England	2–1	2–2	Euro 2004