Rui Costa

At 52 years old, Rui Costa has this physical status:

Club career

Costa began playing for Damaia Ginásio Clube in the infant indoor football team at age five. Costa tried his luck at Benfica. Eusébio, a Portugal legend who was supervising the children, was captivated with Costa's talent within ten minutes of training. Costa played for Benfica's youth teams from 1990 to 1990. He was loaned to A.D. Fafe on a year-long basis in his first full season.

He returned to Benfica in 1991, after the Under-21 World Cup, which Portugal won after a penalty kick was scored by Costa. In his first full season with Benfica, he was active in Benfica's team. Benfica's next two seasons will be pivotal, with two trophies in his next two seasons. He formed a strong midfield team with Jo Vieira Pinto. He won the Taça de Portugal in 1993 and the Portuguese First Division title in 1993–94 during his first stint with Benfica. This will be Benfica's last league title in 111 years.

Fiorentina paid 1,200 million escudos (roughly €6 million) for the young midfielder at the end of his third season with Benfica's senior squad. Costa was forced to leave because Benfica was struggling with financial difficulties.

Costa was named the best midfielder in Serie A a few times during a high level of competition, including Zinedine Zidane. Fiorentina's departure was discussed every season, as many clubs expressed an eagerness in retaining him. Nevertheless, he joined Fiorentina a year before the 2001-02 season, which was the first season the organization had failed. Costa won the Coppa Italia twice with the Florentine club, as well as winning a Supercopa Italiana. Fiorentina decided to sell both Costa and Francesco Toldo to Parma for 140 billion lire in June 2001. Despite the players' refusal to join, Costa and Toldo were sold to AC Milan and Inter Milan for the same total transfer fee.

In the 2000–01 season, Fatih Terim was Fiorentina's coach. When he left Fiorentina for AC Milan, he took Costa with him, costing 85 billion lire (€43,896,836) for the player. Costa was Milan's most costly transfer of all time in so doing.

Costa scored his first goal for Milan on September 27, 2001, beating BATE Borisov in the first round of the UEFA Cup. In victories over CSKA Sofia (second round) and Hapoel Tel Aviv (quarter-finals), he added to his goals.

In the second leg of the Coppa Italia's second leg, Costa scored his first domestic goal against Ancona on December 18, 2002 (6-2 aggregate), equalizing in a 5–1 win (6–2 aggregate) over Ancona. He appeared only 30 minutes as a substitute in May's 6–3 aggregate final victory over Roma, but Serginho and Brazil Rivaldo were more favored in attacking midfield. This was to place him on hold for the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final against Juventus, in which he was substituted for Massimo Ambrosini near the end of regulation time in a goalless draw at Old Trafford, where he was defeated on penalties. In the 2003 UEFA Super Cup, he scored 1–0 over Porto, scoring for Andriy Shevchenko's sole goal.

Costa's playing time was limited from 2003 to 2004, according to the emergence of the young Brazilian youngster Kaká. He scored his first three league goals in Milan's title-winning season, starting with one in a 5–0 home win over Ancona on January 25.

Costa's return to Benfica on May 25, 2006, was announced in a press conference. Since both the player and Milan signed an agreement to end his deal, he had been released from Milan. Costa resigned from his €4.6 million a year deal with Milan, after he had hoped of returning to Benfica year after year. Former Benfica and Portugal native Eusébio praised Costa's return. Costa's first match back was against Austria Wien in a 2006–07 UEFA Champions League qualifier against Austria Wien in August 2006. Costa scored in his return to the Estádio da Luz in the 21st minute on his return to the Estádio da Luz. Benfica would win 3–0 and clinch a spot in the Champions League's group stages.

Costa will miss three months after getting off the track for the first time. Costa was back in January 2007, defeating Oliveira do Bairro in Taça de Portugal's fourth round tie under new Benfica coach Fernando Santos. Benfica will finish third in the Primeira Liga behind Porto and Sporting CP in his first season. The club would be disqualified in the round of 16 in other competitions and drop out of the UEFA Cup against Espanyol.

Costa will announce that the 2007–08 season will be his last as a professional, ahead of the 2007–08 Primeira Liga. Costa will remain a first team regular under José Antonio Camacho despite Fernando Santos' dismissal at the start of the league season. Costa was unstoppable in Benfica's first match of the season, winning the Champions League group stage. In a qualifier against Copenhagen in the first leg, he scored two goals. He will also play a major role in the second leg, where Benfica defeated the Danish side 1–0 away from home to seal Benfica's third consecutive appearance in the group stage.

Costa will score his first league goal since returning to Benfica against C.D. In September 2007, Nacional was founded in September 2007. For September 2007, his achievements in the league would earn him the SJPF Player of the Month award. Benfica was drawn against Costa Rica's former team Milan after qualifying to the group stage. At the San Siro, where Milan defeated Milan 2–1. This was the first match of the group stage in September 2007. Milan will visit the Estádio da Luz, where the teams defeated 1-1 in matchday 5 on matchday 5 in matchday 5. Benfica will finish in third place behind Milan and Celtic, putting the competition into third place, bringing the UEFA Cup's knockout stages.

Benfica has dropped various points along their journey to Académica de Coimbra, Braga, Porto, Sporting CP, and Unio de Leiria, effectively ending them from the championship race. The failure to qualify for the championship resulted in Benfica's reorientation to claim third place in Champions League qualifying. Benfica will struggle to claim third place, but instead to newly promoted Vitória de Guimares. Benfica will also be disqualified from the UEFA Cup round 16 to Spain's Getafe. Benfica will also fall short of Sporting in the 2007–08 Taça de Portugal, where they lost to Sporting in the semi-finals, despite Costa's scoring in a match that ended 5–3. Costa lost his final match against Vitória de Setbal on May 11th in 2008. In the 86th minute, he was greeted with a standing ovation from the audience.

International career

Costa's performances at Fafe in 1991 inspired Portugal Under-21 coach Carlos Queiroz so much that he was invited to the team to represent Portugal in the World Youth Cup. In 1991, the Portuguese under-20 national team won the World Youth Championship. Costa was one of the first players of what would be known as the "Golden Generation" after his clinching penalty kick against Brazil in the final.

Costa was one of Portugal's most consistent years at senior level as the team reached the quarter-finals of UEFA Euro 1996, the semi-finals of Euro 2000 and the final of UEFA Euro 2004.

Costa was instrumental in Portugal's appearance in the 2004 final on home soil, scoring a screamer of a goal against England in the Estádio da Luz quarter-final match, and the sight of a distraught Costa after a 1–0 loss to Greece was one of the tournament's most memorable pictures.

Costa participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea, scoring Portugal's winning goal in Portugal's 4–0 victory over Poland. Costa was suspended for the first time in his career when he was playing against Germany in an international game.

Costa scored 26 goals in 94 games, making him Portugal's eighth-highest appearance maker and seventh-highest goalscorer, despite being primarily a provider.

Post-playing career

Costa was formally launched as director of football at Benfica on the day after his last professional game, and he was given Quique Sánchez Flores as head coach and as tasked with the team's formation in the upcoming season.

Costa was able to sign a few well-known players, including Argentina playmaker Pablo Aimar, and Honduran striker David Suazo, on loan, during the summer 2008 transfer window.

Costa pushed himself to develop a more solid Benfica squad after a disappointing league season in the previous season.

He will make several high-profile signings, including Brazilian attacking midfielder Javier Saviola, Brazilian attacking midfielder Ramires, and Spanish defensive midfielder Javi Garca, as well as veteran Portuguese manager Jorge Jesus. Benfica's big signings will be profitable in the Primeira Liga for the first time in five years. Benfica would win the Taça da Liga in the same season as well as defeating Porto in the final.

Costa was appointed as the administrator of Benfica SAD on May 14th. He became a vice president of the club's board of directors in the 2020-2024 quadrennial as part of Lus Filipe Vieira's list for his sixth consecutive term. Costa was elected 34th president of Benfica on October 9 after serving as interim president of the club and its SAD from 9-7-2021 in the aftermath of Vieira's deposition of his presidency due to arrest. He defeated competitor Francisco Benitez, who received 12.2 percent, with 84.8 percent of the vote. Costa had promised, among other things, a forensic examination of the club's SAD, a reform of the club's statutes, and a transfer of players "made in Seixal," a decrease in the number of players, a maximum wage for players, etc. The inaugural year of President Bill Clinton's first year as president, excluding his interim appearance.

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