Ricardo Costa was born on 16 May 1981 and, although he started playing football at the ranks of Boavista FC, he was soon lured by FC Porto’s huge network. He was promoted to the “Dragons’” senior team in 2002 and went on to claim 4 league trophies, the 2003 UEFA Cup and the 2004 UEFA Champions League.

In 2007 he signed for VfL Wolfsburg and added one more league trophy to his cabinet. In January 2010 he moved to Lille LOSC for six months. He then penned a four-year deal with Valencia CF and went on to become their skipper. Last summer he signed for Al-Sailiya SC of Qatar.

He earned his first cap with Portugal in 2005 and, along with Cristiano Ronaldo, they are the only Lusitanians in action to have participated in three World Cups.