Rui Costa

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{{Football player infobox | playername = Rui Costa | image = | fullname = Rui Manuel César Costa | height = | nickname = | dateofbirth = March 29, 1972 | cityofbirth = Lisbon | countryofbirth = Portugal | currentclub = AC Milan | clubnumber = 10 | position = Midfielder | youthyears = | youthclubs = | years = 1990-1991
1991-1994
1994-2001
2001-Present | clubs = AF Fafe
Benfica
Fiorentina
AC Milan | caps(goals) = 78 (13)
216 (49)
114 (5) | nationalyears = 1993-2004 | nationalteam = Portugal | nationalcaps(goals) = 94 (26) | pcupdate = 11:52, 5 April 2006 (UTC) | ntupdate = 11:52, 5 April 2006 (UTC) }}

Rui Manuel César Costa, usually referred to simply as Rui Costa (pron. IPA /Template:IPA/) (born March 29, 1972 in Lisbon), is a Portuguese football player. He is a midfielder for Italian club superpower A.C. Milan and the Portuguese national team; he normally plays as an attacking midfielder, although he can also play in the deep-seated playmaking role normally occupied by Andrea Pirlo. In 2004, he was named by Pelé to the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living football players.

1 Golden Generation
2 Career
3 Clubs
4 2001
5 2004/05
6 Trivia
7 Honours
8 External links

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Golden Generation

Costa is a member of the so-called "golden generation" in Portuguese football. The Portuguese under-20 national team won two successive World Youth Championships in 1989 and 1991; Costa and fellow FIFA 100 member Luis Figo were stars on the 1991 team. With their spectacular success at youth level, much was expected of the Portuguese national team at senior level as their galaxy of stars matured. However, they did not win a major international tournament at senior level, although the last several members helped lead Portugal to its first-ever major final at Template:Ec2, losing to Greece.

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Career

Prior to Milan, he played for Benfica and Fiorentina. On 3 July 2004 he announced he was leaving the Portuguese national team. Costa shot to stardom in his homeland in 1991 when scoring the winning penalty for Portugal in the FIFA World Youth Championship success against Brazil. He made his full debut against Switzerland in March 1993 and first appeared in a major competition at EURO'96. Rui Costa helped the Portuguese to the semi-finals of UEFA EURO 2000 and played twice at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, scoring in the 4-0 victory against Poland. UEFA EURO 2004 marked his international swansong, as he was dropped to the bench after the opening defeat by Greece, only to come off the bench to score against Russia and a brilliant goal versus England. His 94th and last appearance was as a substitute in the final defeat, also against Greece.

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Clubs

Rui Costa began with AF Fafe before moving to SL Benfica where he won the Portuguese Cup in 1993 and the league in 1994. The summer signalled a move away from his homeland, AC Fiorentina enticing Rui Costa to Serie A. He stayed with the Viola for seven years, forming a devastating partnership with Gabriel Batistuta and helping the club to two Coppa Italia titles. The Lisbon-born midfield player was revered at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, and Fiorentina were relegated following his €38m sale to Milan.

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2001

His first season at the San Siro was plagued with injury but, fit again in 2002/03, Rui Costa excelled in Europe as Milan won through to the UEFA Champions League final, where they defeated Juventus FC. He also helped the Rossoneri to the Coppa Italia, and - despite the emergence of the Brazilian playmaker Kaká - made 28 league appearances in 2003/04 as Milan won the league championship again.

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2004/05

He played 24 times in Serie A, scoring once, as Milan finished second, and made nine Champions League appearances, including as an extra-time substitute in the final loss against Liverpool FC. In April he extended his contract with the Rossoneri until 2007.

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