“Diogo Costa embodies all our values and I’m very fond of him” | OneFootball

André Villas-Boas, president of FC Porto, spoke at the Portugal Football Globes gala at the City of Football, where the club received the Sporting Merit Globe for winning the Primeira Liga. The official linked the title to the resilience of a group marked by two major losses, praised the work of the new coach, and highlighted the role of captain Diogo Costa.

When receiving the distinction, André Villas-Boas put the collective at the heart of the achievement. Between pain, transformation, and the return to the title, he painted the picture of a team united around the symbol and values of FC Porto, without hiding his special affection for the Porto goalkeeper.

Looking back on the journey, the Dragons’ president underlined the impact of the losses of Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa and Jorge Costa, but also the group’s individual and collective response. His praise extended to the coach, the players, and, in a particularly personal way, to Diogo Costa.

“This award and this title are above all the transformation of a team that suffered two major losses: Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa in the 2024/25 season and Jorge Costa at the start of 2025/26. There was a lot of pain along the way, a great deal of individual and collective transcendence, a unique personal transformation by these players, who came together around the symbol of FC Porto, its values, and around their new coach, a man of special character, who has done an excellent job and brought us back a long-desired title that had eluded us for four years. It was very important to turn things around, to become champions again, to embrace the title once more, and that is entirely to the credit of this working group,” said André Villas-Boas. “They have a unique ability to focus on their work, with humility and seriousness, while being highly professional, and that is why this great captain [Diogo Costa] is unique and exceptional. He did not accept my challenge, which was something that would have made me proud and honored the history of the number 2 at FC Porto, but he is a great number 99, a great goalkeeper, who represents all our values, and I have a great deal of affection for him. This is an award for the players, for the collective, and for the work.”

The speech turned the distinction into a tribute to the group’s resilience and Porto identity. In the portrait painted by Villas-Boas, the title emerged less as an isolated feat and more as the result of a team capable of turning pain into unity, work, and achievement.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.