Diogo Costa level has not been a secret at home. Only now is he starting to make headlines internationally as well.
Costa made history in the quarterfinals of the European Championship against Slovenia. A goalless night in Frankfurt made everyone wake up to the fact that the goalkeeper of the Portuguese national team is being guarded by a rising star.
He is the first goalkeeper in the competition’s history to have saved three attempts in the penalty shootout. Likewise, the first who hasn’t conceded a goal in the spot race.
The Portuguese sports magazine A Bola gave the goalkeeper a rating of 10/10. O Jogo magazine, on the other hand, considered the statue project to be insufficient thanks.
– This could have been the best match of my life. At least this was the one where I drove my team the most, Costa enthused.
The definition of the world’s most valuable goalkeeper is vague, but according to the Transfermarkt website, the number one on the list is not Gianluigi Donnarumma, Jan Oblak, Ederson or Alisson, but Costa. Few remember his existence.
The website estimates the 24-year-old is worth 40 million euros. If Portugal’s trip continues, the number will increase by autumn.
– He is incredible. He is one of the most important pieces of FC Porto and we have no desire to give him up, Costa’s club president was happy.
“Special quality talent”
Iker Casillas tried to warn everyone already six years ago. The goalkeeper legend, who played in Portugal at the time, was asked about his successor.
– A star is rising. His name is Diogo Costa. I think he will be a great goalkeeper, Casillas saidwhen Costa played in the reserve team.
Porto is one of the most famous clubs in Portugal. The 30-time champion even celebrated winning the Champions League in 2004. Globally, its profile is far from the giant clubs, or even the smaller clubs in the more prestigious leagues.
The same goes for Costa, for whom Porto is everything. His 7-year-old version would be in awe when he heard about his future as the “dragons'” number one guard.
The parents of the Swiss-born goalkeeper moved 20 kilometers away from the center of Porto when it was time for the boy to go to school. That was the beginning of a love affair with the local club. Even more specifically, I liked Costa To Vitor Baiawho was about to end a career of more than 500 matches with a goal for FC Porto.
The family’s home was in a small village with less than 8,000 inhabitants. There, the shy boy’s moves on the EC grass are watched with a close eye. One of the residents had called the goalkeeper’s grandmother right after the quarterfinals to congratulate her.
Costa became such a national hero that the media hurriedly sought out relatives, neighbors and old coaches. Instagram followers doubled in a day.
As a control, we dug Ricardowhose exploits in the play-offs and penalty kicks helped Portugal to the European Championship final in 2004.
He lost his place at Porto’s academy when he was 11 years old. Costa made his debut in the national team at the age of 20. Now he is a double champion of both the Portuguese league and the cup. He has been awarded twice as the best goalkeeper in the main league.
– A talent of a special quality that dominated every moment of the game. He counters really well and controls depth well. He has everything he needs. Diogo was a bit worried about using my game number but I said I’d like him to play with it, the legendary Baía himself said in winter.
Costa was already a key figure in the boys’ national teams, which grabbed success from one age group to the next.
In the summer of 2016, he defeated Portugal to become European champion in under-17s. Then it was the turn of the under-19s. Costa was injured in the semi-final, but Portugal won the final match in Seinäjoki. The last was the under-21 games, where Portugal lost the final to Germany, despite Costa making five saves.
Immediately after, the transition to the men’s national team began. In the qualifiers for this tournament, Costa played seven matches and won them all. In six, he didn’t even concede a goal.
When Bruno Fernandes sealed Portugal’s win by taking the final penalty, he ran straight into Costa’s arms knowing who was the real decider.
Costa had faced first by Josip Iličić. A hard shot went towards the bottom right corner, but Costa jumped in front.
Jure Balkovec was next. He also shot with power, but to the other side. Costa made an easy save.
Last came Benjamin Verbic. The company was similar to Balkovec’s. Costa saved.
Everyone went crazy, most were surprised.
Sports expert Mika Nurmela drew attention to shooters. Their actions may have given the goalkeeper a message of what was to come.
– All Slovenian players took a direct pace, from which you could predict the moment when the ball would move. Portugal went crazy. They slowed down or took a longer look at the goalkeeper’s movement. The difference in the quality of individuals came out blatantly in the comma race, Nurmela said in the 11 friends podcast.
Costa performed calmly, and with the stricter referee rules, you are not allowed to disturb the shots. He seemed to make a clear decision about the direction of his hunch before the ball left the bowler’s leg.
– The strategies have developed a lot now that the rules limit goalkeepers and create an advantage for the shooter. Many have set out to develop new methods, Pallloliitto’s goalkeeper training expert Eemeli Reponen tells.
Before contacting the ball, Costa moved his right foot behind the goal line. He made an effort with it first to the front slant, then with his left foot towards the left post. Often the goalkeepers have kept both feet on the line.
– Here we want to generate more power for throwing. Starting from behind the line emphasizes the fact that we no longer search terribly for information about the shooter. It says that he has clearly known where the dots are going.
In the other direction, the technique was the same, the legs just changed places. The movement was explosive, and none of the shooters seemed to have a striking commitment to one direction.
Portugal had clearly done their homework on Slovenia’s most likely shooters.
– It is normal to look through probably ten players. Let’s look for a favorite angle, tendencies, or something that affects changing the angle. If it is known that the shots come at a fast speed and favor a certain angle, you don’t have to wait as long, but think about the technical performance and get as much reach as possible for the throw, says Reponen.
– Costa’s expertise in this supports current operations. Not everyone gets to the pole, but Costa does. Slovenia’s kicks may not have been the best, but he threw himself damn far in them.
Probably, at least the Porto supporters knew how to watch the goalkeeper more than the shooters. They had proven special skills before.
According to The Athletic, Costa has saved 13 of the 42 penalty kicks in his career, i.e. the third, with the quarter-finals of the European Championship. At the top, it would be more usual to tackle one out of five or six.
In autumn 2022, Costa achieved his previous hat trick. Within three weeks, he saved three penalties in three matches. Actually four, because one of the spots was redone, and Costa stretched in front of it too.
In the quarter-finals of the European Championship, he showed that half-hearted companies don’t even have to try. Repo would be interested to see how better shooters would challenge Costa’s qualities and possible foresight.
Costa has shown his card. For a patient shooter, a moving foot behind would be a strong message about the goalkeeper’s guess.
– Players rarely change their behavior, but if the attacker has even a little eye for the game, he too can find information. It would be fun to see what would happen if there were shooters with some other strategy. Even 5–10 years ago, penalty kicks were talked about as a game of the lottery, but nowadays both sides give them a great deal of strategic value already in training.
Tournaments of value are football’s best showcase, and Costa has only one of them under his belt.
The previous World Cup was many people’s first glimpse of new goalkeeper talent. At that time, he was not even praised in his home country, because there was one major league season under him. Porto’s number one goalkeeper was injured, and the lucky gig turned into a season of 15 clean sheets.
In the national team Rui Patricio had been a sole ruler for more than ten years. Everything changed in a surprise selection for important matches. The 22-year-old Costa had only played a practice match against Qatar when he was given the responsibility of the starting goalkeeper for the World Cup qualifiers.
Patricio’s star was on the wane. Costa, on the other hand, was a young and rising talent. Explosive and agile goalkeeper, who could also send rocket-like shots tens of meters with which his own could attack.
First, Costa made four saves in the win over Turkey. He then blanked North Macedonia, securing a place in the World Cup tournament. There he was the youngest goalkeeper of the Games.
– Diogo Costa is Portugal’s secret, and Europe’s best kept secret. I have worked with very good goalkeepers and he is one of the best, Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez said on Monday.
Perhaps the inexperience was still visible in the World Cup. Portugal fell to Morocco with a goal in which the communication between the goalkeeper and the defense failed miserably.
Costa had already made a mistake at the end of the opening match when he forgot the opponent behind his back. The striker slipped at the time of the count, but Costa was as sorry for his mistake as the others Cristiano Ronaldo in management tried to comfort him.
Now, in the Slovenia match, the parts changed. Ronaldo missed the goal posts and the penalty kick. He would have been the biggest scapegoat.
The same would have happened to the defender For Pepewhose error allowed Slovenia’s number one striker to drive through in the last moments.
However, Costa parried Benjamin Šeško shot and eventually Portugal to the next.