Diogo Costa
Diogo Meireles Costa
Written by Nuno Travassos, Catarina Pereira and Luís Mateus for A Bola:
Diogo Jota has already won two European titles with Portugal, at Under-17 and Under-19 levels, in addition to the Uefa Youth League, with Porto. He took over as Portugal’s No 1 in the qualifying playoff for the 2022 World Cup and is known for his confidence and ability with his feet, but gave Portugal a tremendous scare in their opening match in Qatar when he failed to notice Iñaki Williams behind him. Costa dropped the ball at his feet to play out and was robbed by the alert Ghana forward. Fortunately Williams slipped before he could get a shot off and Portugal held on for a 3-2 victory. Cristiano Ronaldo’s reaction went viral, the superstar forward standing on the bench with his hand on his head and mouth wide open in horror. Later Costa was partially at fault for the Morocco goal that eliminated Portugal in the quarter-finals, but generally he’s a very solid goalkeeper. Last March, Transfermarkt ranked him as the most valuable keeper in the world. The Portugal coach, Roberto Martínez, believes Costa can reach the level of Thibaut Courtois, whom the Spaniard worked with while managing Belgium.
