Jorge Costa
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Jorge Paulo Costa Almeida, born 14 October 1971 in Oporto, Portugal is a professional footballer.
Nicknamed Bicho (animal) and Tanque (tank) by his colleagues and fans, he has been the captain of Portuguese side FC Porto since longtime captain João Pinto retired. He and Fernando Couto were considered the best defensive duo in UEFA's EURO 2000. He retired from international football after the 2002 World Cup, with fifty caps and two goals.
A promising player (he was a 1989 Youth World Cup champion) he debuted in the 90-91 season with Penafiel (on loan from Porto), playing 23 games and scoring two goals. The following season he was loaned to Madeira side Marítimo, playing 31 games including a controversial game in the Estádio das Antas where he scored an own goal. Despite being clearly unintentional, the accusations of "scoring for his team" continued, forcing Porto's president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa to forbid further loaned players to play against Porto, a decision that still stands. In the 92-93 season he finally joined FC Porto, slowly making his way. In the 97-98 season he inherited both the number 2 shirt (he played with the number 22 shirt before) and the captain's armband from captain João Pinto.
His career has only three black spots: two serious knee injuries (during the 95-96 season, which ruled him out of Euro 96 and during the 97-98 pre-season in Sweden) and a feud with coach Octávio Machado early in the 01-02 season, which forced him into "exile" at Charlton Athletic. However, the image of Costa as the captain went untouched, and Porto fans turned against Octávio with massive criticism of his team management and coaching. The next season he returned to FC Porto, unanimously chosen as captain of a side that went on to win a Championship-Cup-UEFA Cup treble.