Diego Costa explains his decision to retire and reveals emotional stories from his career | OneFootball

Former Atletico Madrid striker speaks on hunger, struggle and refereeing row

Diego Costa explains his decision to retire and reveals emotional stories from his career

Former Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa confirmed his retirement and shared emotional stories from his career in recent podcast interview.

Costa ends all talk of a comeback

Former Diego Costa has officially confirmed that his playing career is over. The ex Atletico Madrid forward made the announcement while appearing on the podcast “Camino de Mario” hosted by his former teammate Mario Suarez.

In a long interview quoted by AS, Costa said his agent continued to look for offers but he no longer had the desire to play.

He explained that the decision was final and made some time ago.

Painful first steps in Europe

Costa spoke openly about the difficult start of his career in Europe. He revealed that Braga offered him contract but his father initially refused because Costa was still underage.

He recalled insisting that his father travel with him. After just five day, his father returned to Brazil leaving Costa alone in Portugal.

The striker described those months as some of the hardest of his life.

“I was Hungry and had Nothing”

Costa shared emotional details about living conditions at the time. He said he lived in small apartment with three Portuguese players and received no salary.

His agent gave him only €60 forcing him to walk to training every day and survive on a single fast-food meal.

He added that when he returned home hungry, he would see biscuits in the fridge belonging to his roommates but never dared to take one.

According to Costa, no one offered him food and he kept his struggle to himself.

Referee clash and defender battles

The former striker also revisited his well-known clash with referee Gil Manzano. Costa repeated his claim that the referee lied about what was said between them which led to an eight-match suspension.

He said he asked for audio proof at the time but never received it.

Speaking about life on the pitch, Costa said he always had good relationships with defenders but during matches they were enemies.

He joked about battles with Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol saying they would hit him and then apologize, something he never wanted during games.

Costa ended by describing Atletico Madrid as the most important club of his career but also the one that caused him the most pain.