Jorge Costa’s former assistant admits: “I didn’t have the courage…” | OneFootball

Marco Leite knows Jorge Costa like few others: he was his assistant coach for 15 years and together they led AVS to the First League in the 2023/24 season, before Jorge accepted an invitation to join the FC Porto structure at the request of André Villas-Boas.

In an extensive interview with this Thursday’s edition of the newspaper O Jogo, the current assistant to Miguel Moita at Marítimo commented on that choice: “Jorge returned to FC Porto in the best way, with a promotion to the top division with AVS and the feeling of a job well done, but he really wanted to go, it was his dream and he spoke about it with some sadness.”

“He was never someone who liked to be in the spotlight, but I felt they could have paid him tribute like they did with Deco, for example. He could have been honored in life, as happened, and rightly so, with João Pinto recently at the Dragões de Ouro. These are players who reflected what, unfortunately, FC Porto can no longer have,” he pointed out.

“Jorge was the last great figure of those times, he perfectly embodied what FC Porto was and is. He never complained about it, but you could tell that, one day, he dreamed of joining FC Porto. And it’s a good thing that day came,” he added, before revealing a curious episode about ‘Bicho’.

“I was with him on his last vacation, he rented a house in Gerês, around the time Francesco Farioli arrived. He even had to leave to go to the presentation and come back. He was very happy and satisfied this season, the previous season was very tough, he didn’t feel fulfilled. Wherever he is, he will be proud of this team,” he concluded.

“I can’t imagine Jorge Costa’s passing without a purpose”

In the same conversation, Marco Leite said he was convinced that the death of Jorge Costa, which occurred on August 5, 2025, following a cardiorespiratory arrest, holds “a greater purpose” and that this feeling has been a driving force behind FC Porto’s excellent season under Francesco Farioli.

“I can’t imagine his passing without a purpose. Each of us will find our own, and the people at FC Porto have united around his figure, they feel his presence on the field with them every day. What we have seen is, in fact, FC Porto. When they can’t win one way, they win another, with grit, with spirit. You can feel they are united, with a different spirit from last year,” he said.

“I even considered changing careers”

To conclude, Marco Leite confessed that he even considered leaving his career as an assistant coach after leaving Pakhtakor, in Uzbekistan, due to his long partnership with Jorge Costa.

“When I left Pakhtakor, in Uzbekistan, I really considered changing careers. I started to seriously think about the idea of being an assistant to someone other than Jorge. It was 15 years with a person of very strong charisma.”

“He would outline and delegate a lot of the work. Being someone else’s assistant affected me a bit. But I’m working at Marítimo, with Miguel Moita, someone I know perfectly well and who even played with me in the tuna. We’re at a great club, which deserves to be in the first division, and I’m really enjoying being there,” he said.

“Before, I had two offers to work abroad, and everything was set for one of them. On the day Jorge passed away, I spoke to him about it, but I didn’t have the courage to go after what happened. I apologized to them, everything was already prepared, but I didn’t go,” he concluded.

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