Porto legend Jorge Costa dies after heart attack | OneFootball

Portuguese football is in shock today after the sudden death of Porto’s football director Jorge Costa at 53 years of age.

The legendary centre-back, known affectionally as “o Bicho” (the animal) by Porto fans owing to his fierce competitiveness, was rushed to hospital this morning after feeling unwell at the club’s Olival training complex. His passing through heart failure was announced early this afternoon.

Costa played a total of 383 matches for the Dragons during a golden era for the club. He won the Portuguese league eight times among a glittering array of domestic and international silverware.

It was he who lifted the European Cup aloft into the Gelsenkirchen sky in 2004 as José Mourinho’s Porto won the biggest prize in club football.

Jorge Costa played 50 times for Portugal, in addition to two brief stints abroad at Charlton Athletic and Standard Liège, and he also represented Penafiel and Marítimo on loan at the start of his football journey.

But it is as an authentic Porto icon that he will be remembered, Costa personifying the grit and never-say-die attitude that helped the club dominate Portuguese football throughout his playing career. RIP.

Tributes to Jorge Costa

Vítor Baía, Porto and Portugal teammate: “Today football lost one of its greatest warriors. I lost a captain. A friend.”

Ricardo Quaresma, Porto and Portugal teammate: “Today someone departed who was one of the people I most admired and who really helped me in the world of football.”

José Mourinho, Jorge Costa’s coach at Porto: “A part of my history has gone away. Jorge was one of those players who cleared away the “trash” and allowed the coach to get on with his job. If he could say something to me today he would probably tell me to do the press conference and prepare for tomorrow’s game. I’m going to try and focus on the game, do my work and I’ll cry afterwards.”

Carlos Queiroz, Jorge Costa’s coach for Portugal: “My heart is in bits with this sad news for all of us, and in particular for our team of champions [Portugal U20 World Champions in 1991]. I can’t find words that do justice to the life, the companion and the friend, to the football player, the leader and the winner that was our world champion, Jorge Costa.”

André Villas-Boas, Porto president: “Jorge, we will miss you enormously, but do not doubt we will fight for you like you fought for us and for FC Porto. You will never be forgotten, Captain.”

Costinha, Porto teammate: “Jorge was a great player, a great leader and a great captain. He was the best captain I ever had. Our friendship went beyond the football fields. My wife used to joke with him saying, ‘Bicho? No, you are a bichinho’ because he was such an amiable person outside of the football context.”

Nuno Gomes, rival player at club level and Portugal teammate: “Today a great friend left us, a great companion, the most difficult adversary I ever faced, a born leader and someone with a finely tuned sense of humour that he used to throw me off my guard during games. Jorge was that player we always prefer to have on our team. I’m proud that I was your teammate!”

Rui Costa, Benfica president: “I’ve got memories of him since I was 17 years old. Today a great man and a great friend left us. We had amazing memories for the Seleção, above all winning the [U20] World Cup together. We were roommates for the national team for years. It’s a very sad day.”

FC Porto: “The legacy of Jorge Costa will remain forever alive in the memory of all Portistas. You will never be forgotten, Captain.”