This name uses Portuguese naming customs. The first or maternal family name is da Silva and the second or paternal family name is Costa.
Diego Costa
Costa playing for Chelsea in 2014Personal informationFull nameDiego da Silva Costa[1]Date of birth7 October 1988 (age 26)Place of birthLagarto, BrazilHeight1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]Playing positionStrikerClub informationCurrent team
ChelseaNumber19Youth career2004–2006Barcelona ECSenior career*YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†2006Braga0(0)2006→ Penafiel (loan)13(5)2007–2009Atlético Madrid0(0)2007→ Braga (loan)7(0)2007–2008→ Celta (loan)30(5)2008–2009→ Albacete (loan)35(9)2009–2010Valladolid34(8)2010–2014Atlético Madrid94(43)2012→ Rayo Vallecano (loan)16(10)2014–Chelsea26(20)National team‡2013Brazil2(0)2014–Spain7(1)* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 May 2015.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 October 2014Diego da Silva Costa (Spanish: [ˈdjeɣo ða ˈsilβa ˈkosta], Portuguese: [ˈdʒjeɡu dɐ ˈsiwvɐ ˈkɔstɐ]; born 7 October 1988), known earlier in his career simply as Diego,[3][4] is a professional footballer who plays for English club Chelsea and the Spanish national team. He plays as a striker and has been described by pundits as a player whose main attributes are his physicality, goalscoring and ability to keep possession.[5][6]
He began his career with Braga and Penafiel in Portugal, and was signed by Atlético Madrid in 2007. He was loaned back to Braga, and then to Celta and Albacete before being sold to Valladolid in 2009. He returned to Atlético the following season and went on to play a key role in their attack, scoring 27 goals as they won the league title in 2014, and then joined Chelsea for £32 million. He scored 20 goals in his first season in England, winning the Premier League and League Cup.
Internationally, Costa played twice for Brazil in 2013, but later declared his desire to represent Spain, having been grantedSpanish citizenship in September 2013. He made his début for his adopted nation in March 2014, and was selected for that year's World Cup.
Early lifeCosta was born in Lagarto, Sergipe, Brazil, to parents José de Jesus and Josileide.[7] His father named him in honour of Argentine footballer Diego Maradona despite the rivalry between the two nations, and he has an elder brother named Jair after Brazilian player Jairzinho.[7] Despite regularly playing street football, Costa did not believe as a child that he would turn professional, in part due to the remote location of his hometown.[7]
At age 15, he left Sergipe and moved to São Paulo, to work in the store of his uncle Jarminho.[7] Although he was never a professional, Jarminho had connections in football and recommended his nephew to Barcelona Esportiva Capela, a team from Ibiúna in the south of the city set up as an alternative to drugs and gangs for youth of the favelas.[7] Before joining this team, he had never been coached in football.[7][8] He turned professional at the club, earning around £100 per month, and met renowned Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes, who took the teenager to Europe.[7]
Club careerEarly careerCosta signed for his first European club in February 2006, Portugal's S.C. Braga,[9] and spent the following months with the club's reserves.
In the 2006 summer Costa was loaned to F.C. Penafiel, in the second division,[10] and in December, he was sold to Spain's Atlético Madrid, for €1.5 million and 50% of the player's rights,[11] but remained on loan at Braga until the end of the season. On 23 February 2007, he came on in the 71st minute for Zé Carlos and scored his first goal for the team, a last-minute goal for a 1–0 win at Parma F.C. to advance 2–0 on aggregate to the Last 16 of the UEFA Cup.[3]
In the following two years he was again loaned, on both occasions to Segunda División sides, starting with Celta de Vigo then with Albacete Balompié, appearing and scoring regularly.[12]
On 8 July 2009 Costa was sold to Real Valladolid as part of the deal that sent goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo in the opposite direction, with the transfer including a €1 million buy-back option that could be activated by Atlético at the end of the season.[13] He started strong for the Castile and León side, scoring six times in his first 12 games,[14] but only found the net once in the following 5½ months as the campaign eventually ended in relegation from La Liga.
Diego Costa
Costa playing for Chelsea in 2014Personal informationFull nameDiego da Silva Costa[1]Date of birth7 October 1988 (age 26)Place of birthLagarto, BrazilHeight1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]Playing positionStrikerClub informationCurrent team
ChelseaNumber19Youth career2004–2006Barcelona ECSenior career*YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†2006Braga0(0)2006→ Penafiel (loan)13(5)2007–2009Atlético Madrid0(0)2007→ Braga (loan)7(0)2007–2008→ Celta (loan)30(5)2008–2009→ Albacete (loan)35(9)2009–2010Valladolid34(8)2010–2014Atlético Madrid94(43)2012→ Rayo Vallecano (loan)16(10)2014–Chelsea26(20)National team‡2013Brazil2(0)2014–Spain7(1)* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 May 2015.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 October 2014Diego da Silva Costa (Spanish: [ˈdjeɣo ða ˈsilβa ˈkosta], Portuguese: [ˈdʒjeɡu dɐ ˈsiwvɐ ˈkɔstɐ]; born 7 October 1988), known earlier in his career simply as Diego,[3][4] is a professional footballer who plays for English club Chelsea and the Spanish national team. He plays as a striker and has been described by pundits as a player whose main attributes are his physicality, goalscoring and ability to keep possession.[5][6]
He began his career with Braga and Penafiel in Portugal, and was signed by Atlético Madrid in 2007. He was loaned back to Braga, and then to Celta and Albacete before being sold to Valladolid in 2009. He returned to Atlético the following season and went on to play a key role in their attack, scoring 27 goals as they won the league title in 2014, and then joined Chelsea for £32 million. He scored 20 goals in his first season in England, winning the Premier League and League Cup.
Internationally, Costa played twice for Brazil in 2013, but later declared his desire to represent Spain, having been grantedSpanish citizenship in September 2013. He made his début for his adopted nation in March 2014, and was selected for that year's World Cup.
Early lifeCosta was born in Lagarto, Sergipe, Brazil, to parents José de Jesus and Josileide.[7] His father named him in honour of Argentine footballer Diego Maradona despite the rivalry between the two nations, and he has an elder brother named Jair after Brazilian player Jairzinho.[7] Despite regularly playing street football, Costa did not believe as a child that he would turn professional, in part due to the remote location of his hometown.[7]
At age 15, he left Sergipe and moved to São Paulo, to work in the store of his uncle Jarminho.[7] Although he was never a professional, Jarminho had connections in football and recommended his nephew to Barcelona Esportiva Capela, a team from Ibiúna in the south of the city set up as an alternative to drugs and gangs for youth of the favelas.[7] Before joining this team, he had never been coached in football.[7][8] He turned professional at the club, earning around £100 per month, and met renowned Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes, who took the teenager to Europe.[7]
Club careerEarly careerCosta signed for his first European club in February 2006, Portugal's S.C. Braga,[9] and spent the following months with the club's reserves.
In the 2006 summer Costa was loaned to F.C. Penafiel, in the second division,[10] and in December, he was sold to Spain's Atlético Madrid, for €1.5 million and 50% of the player's rights,[11] but remained on loan at Braga until the end of the season. On 23 February 2007, he came on in the 71st minute for Zé Carlos and scored his first goal for the team, a last-minute goal for a 1–0 win at Parma F.C. to advance 2–0 on aggregate to the Last 16 of the UEFA Cup.[3]
In the following two years he was again loaned, on both occasions to Segunda División sides, starting with Celta de Vigo then with Albacete Balompié, appearing and scoring regularly.[12]
On 8 July 2009 Costa was sold to Real Valladolid as part of the deal that sent goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo in the opposite direction, with the transfer including a €1 million buy-back option that could be activated by Atlético at the end of the season.[13] He started strong for the Castile and León side, scoring six times in his first 12 games,[14] but only found the net once in the following 5½ months as the campaign eventually ended in relegation from La Liga.