Tino Costa

Tino Costa
With Spartak Moscow in 2013
Personal information
Full name Alberto Facundo Costa
Date of birth (1985-01-09) 9 January 1985
Place of birth Las Flores, Argentina
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Youth career
1996–2002 La Terrazza
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2004 Racing Club B-T
2004–2005 RCF Paris 28 (3)
2005–2007 Pau 62 (4)
2007–2008 Sète 29 (3)
2008–2010 Montpellier 66 (15)
2010–2013 Valencia 84 (10)
2013–2016 Spartak Moscow 31 (3)
2015–2016 → Genoa (loan) 18 (2)
2016 → Fiorentina (loan) 7 (0)
2016–2017 San Lorenzo 8 (0)
2017–2018 Almería 14 (2)
National team
2011–2012 Argentina 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 June 2018

Alberto Facundo "Tino" Costa (born 9 January 1985) is an Argentinian footballer. He plays as a midfielder and is known for his technical skill, penalty-taking, his free kick ability and his pin-point passing.

Club career

Early career

Costa, commonly known as Tino, began his career in Argentina playing for local club La Terrazza. At the age of 17, he made the highly risky decision of leaving the country for the island of Guadeloupe to play for Racing Club de Basse-Terre in the Guadeloupe Division d'Honneur.

Costa spent two years at the island club helping the club win the league and cup double. He played in the 2004 edition of the Coupe de Guadeloupe final helping his club defeat AS Gosier by a score of 3–1. His great play caught the attention of Racing Club de Paris, who offered the player a trial.[1] Racing, who were playing in the third-tier National, signed the player and Costa played one season for the club appearing in 28 total matches scoring 3 goals.

The following season, Costa joined Pau FC, another club in the National. At Pau, he appeared in 39 total matches scoring 4 goals with Pau barely avoiding relegation in both years he spent there.[2]

After leaving Pau, Costa joined his third National club in FC Sète. There, he became a household name in the league appearing in 29 total matches scoring 3 goals helping Sète come within seven points of promotion. He also assisted on several goals and collected nine yellow cards. For his efforts, he was named the league's top player, which led to interest from clubs in the higher divisions.

Montpellier

Costa signed with Montpellier of Ligue 2 for the 2008–09 season, after agreeing to a three-year contract. He made his debut for the club in their opening match of the season, playing the full 90 minutes in their loss to Strasbourg.[3] He scored his first career goal for the club a few weeks later in their 4–0 demolition of Reims.[4] He was held scoreless for the majority of the fall season, before returning to form mid-season scoring a brace against Boulogne.[5] In a span of six weeks, during the latter part of the season, Costa scored goals against Dijon,[6] Châteauroux,[7] Brest,[8] and Clermont.[9] As a result, Montpellier were among the head of the pack for promotion to Ligue 1. The club's future was determined on the final day of the season with a 2–1 victory over Strasbourg, who were also fighting for promotion. Costa scored the eventual game-winning goal in the 19th minute helping Montpellier return to Ligue 1 play.[10] For the entire season, Costa scored 8 goals and assisted on 11 goals. He was nominated for the Ligue 2 Player of the Year award, but lost out to the Cameroonian Paul Alo'o.

Following the season, several Ligue 1 clubs began inquiring for Costa's services, most notably RC Lens and Toulouse.[11] However, Costa refuted any claims of leaving the city of Montpellier and signed a contract extension on 1 July 2009 until the year 2013.[12] Despite missing the club's opening 1–1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain, Costa made his Ligue 1 debut against Lorient scoring the club's opening goal in the 60th minute. The match ended in a 2–2 draw.[13] The following week, he scored again, this time in a 2–0 victory over Sochaux.[14] Two weeks later, he converted a 39th-minute penalty against Lens. The goal turned out to be the winner.[15]

Valencia

On 1 July 2010, Costa joined La Liga club Valencia on a four-year contract for a transfer fee of €6.5 million. He scored his first goal for Valencia on his debut in the UEFA Champions League. The midfielder shot accurately from 30 yards out, and Valencia went on to win 0–4 at Bursaspor. He scored his first league goal for Valencia against Getafe on 14 November 2010. On 18 December he scored his second league goal from 35 yards out when he converted a free-kick against Real Sociedad.

Spartak Moscow

On 5 June 2013 it was announced that Costa left Valencia to go to Russian giants Spartak Moscow for €7M transfer fee.[16]

Genoa / Fiorentina (loans)

It was confirmed that Costa would join Serie A side Genoa for the 2015-16 season. On 15 January 2016 Fiorentina had confirmed the 6-month loan signing of Costa with the view to a permanent option at the end of the season.

San Lorenzo

On the midnight 21 July 2016 it was announced that Costa left Spartak to go to Argentinian giants San Lorenzo as a free agent.[17] However, he only appeared in eight matches for the club during his spell.

Almería

On 1 August 2017, Costa signed a one-year deal with UD Almería in Segunda División.[18] He contributed with two goals in only 14 appearances, as his season was marred by injuries.

Career statistics

(Correct as of 6 January 2016)
Club Season League Cup[nb 1] Europe[nb 2] Total
Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists
RC Basse-Terre 2003–04 ––––––––––––
Total ––––––––––––
Racing Paris 2004–05 28330000002833
Total 28330000002833
Pau 2005–06 31241000003224
2006–07 31251000003225
Total 62492000006449
Sète 2007–08 29370000002937
Total 29370000002937
Montpellier 2008–09 3581120000037811
2009–10 31762000003376
Total 661517400000701517
Valencia 2010–11 24421007223264
2011–12 26535109134076
2012–13 311632080442310
Total 81101193024391141620
Spartak Moscow 2013–14 24351002012736
2014–15 702100000802
Total 31372002013538
Genoa (loan) 2014–15 622000000622
2015–16 12000000001200
Total 18220000001822
Career total 31540561730263103584666

Honours

Racing Club B-T

References

  1. ↑ "Alberto Costa: Globetrotter". Ligue de Football Professionnel. 21 September 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  2. ↑ "Alberto Costa joueur de Montpellier". Foot-National. 23 September 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  3. ↑ "Strasbourg v. Montpellier Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel. 4 August 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  4. ↑ "Reims v. Montpellier Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel. 22 August 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  5. ↑ "Boulogne v. Montpellier Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  6. ↑ "Montpellier v. Dijon Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel. 20 March 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  7. ↑ "Montpellier v. Châteauroux Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel. 6 March 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  8. ↑ "Montpellier v. Brest Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel. 20 February 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  9. ↑ "Montpellier v. Clermont Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel. 3 April 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  10. ↑ "Montpellier v. Strasbourg Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  11. ↑ "Costa: "I've remained to improve"". Only Soccer. 3 September 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  12. ↑ "Costa prolonge". Foot Mercato. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  13. ↑ "Lorient v. Montpellier Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel. 15 August 2009. Archived from the original on 12 September 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  14. ↑ "Montpellier v. Sochaux Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel. 22 August 2009. Archived from the original on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  15. ↑ "Montpellier v. Lens Match Report". Ligue de Football Professionnel. 12 September 2009. Archived from the original on 15 September 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  16. ↑ "Costa celebrates Valencia switch". Union of European Football Associations. 1 July 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
  17. ↑ "Tino Costa y Mathías Corujo, dos refuerzos para San Lorenzo". La Nación. 22 July 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  18. ↑ "Tino Costa se convierte en nuevo jugador de la UD Almería" [Tino Costa becomes the new player of UD Almería] (in Spanish). UD Almería. 1 August 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.

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