var playerInfo={"C3DE130B7D4AB7DB":"Francisco Jose Costa, Costinha","B6B40535701B4CD0DB864915DEF06E2A":"","44815DEA11FB577D3ADEC3055D57C9DB":"0","44815DEA11FB577D5BF802155ED45F52BF89EAE80D401A5B":"1","FD159EB5937AD12F4B2E9E75B80D3D16":"Portugal","12F030D6FCEE9D12":"9894","572BB26E7A76C211":"369","BE541FF326E82F6A":"CD Nacional","7FB3F46040506B81":"Francisco Jose Costa, Costinha","D39E7C23A464F86D":"1","4FB95329DB27F065AB688F47FF3E7436":"2021-7-1","2278C81F60D7F1ECF170F6DDE4B76865":"Academica Coimbra","185D9308B7C9E0BBE486C613A62D93FE":"4","EDBF020A791C65EC6DC356F5C22437AB":"999","41F6CDCCD6C1C3AD77386ED2FC4083F7":"A serious competitor, there is no doubting the commitment of midfield player Costinha, one of the unsung heroes of Portuguese football. <BR><BR>National team<BR><BR>Costinha made his Portugal debut after the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals in a 3-0 victory against Slovakia. He was named in the UEFA EURO 2000? squad and scored the only goal of the Group A victory against Romania before Portugal lost in the semi-finals to France. Ant&#243;nio Oliveira overlooked him for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but his successor, Luiz Felipe Scolari, has been more enthusiastic. <BR><BR>Club<BR><BR>After playing lower division football with Clube oriental de Lisboa, AS Machico, CD Nacional Madeira and CF Uni?o Madeira, Costinha was plucked from obscurity by AS Monaco FC for the 1997\/98 season. In France his playing style was compared to that of his coach, Claude Puel, and the two combined well as Monaco took the title in 2000. <BR><BR>2001: Costinha returned to Portugal to make his top-flight debut for FC Porto at the start of the 2001\/02 season. It was to prove to be something of a disaster as he was sent off - a chastening experience which served to strengthen his resolve. <BR><BR>2002\/03: Now established in the side and respected for his tough tackling, Costinha was in imperious form as Porto won the Portuguese league and cup double. The only sour note was the thigh injury sustained against FC Pa?os de Ferreira on 11 May which limited him to just nine minutes of the UEFA Cup final victory against Celtic FC. <BR><BR>Did you know?<BR><BR>Costinha was 27 when he played his first Portuguese SuperLiga game.<BR><BR>","5BB437CAF240E475":"74kg","EBC62A89E472008E22ACFCF9251EA2ED":"","7379EA3CEBE73A3F":"181cm","5BAE2FF41BC6AD03489546EF11EAFCB7":"1974-12-1","1A49EE26E6AAD5C64FC6A19EFDD00C1A":"Academica Coimbra,Pacos Ferreira,Beira Mar","e_index":5};