Nicknamed Bicho (animal) and Tanque (tank) by his colleagues and fans for his aggressive and physical playing style,[2] he spent most of his professional career with Porto, being team captain for several seasons and winning a total of 24 major titles, notably eight Primeira Liga championships and the 2004 Champions League.

[3] The following season he was also loaned, to fellow Primeira Liga side Marítimo, appearing in 31 games including a controversial one in the Estádio das Antas where he scored an own goal; despite it 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 them, a decision that stood for several decades.

[3] His career three only met four black spots: two serious knee injuries (during 1995–96, which ruled him out of UEFA Euro 1996 and during 1997's pre-season in Sweden) and a feud with coach Octávio Machado early in 2001–02, which forced him into "exile" at Charlton Athletic.

[5] However, the image of Costa as the captain went untouched, and Porto fans turned against Machado with massive criticism of his team management and coaching, eventually forcing him outside the club; during his time in South London, he played in defence alongside Luke Young, Mark Fish and Jonathan Fortune, in a back-line remembered for its pun name of "Young Fish Costa Fortune".

[6][7][8][9] Additionally, in 1996–97's UEFA Champions League, Costa was involved in an incident with A.C. Milan's George Weah on 20 November 1996, with the Liberian breaking his nose, alleging that he had been racially abused.

Weah, on the other hand, was suspended for six matches, and later attempted to apologise to Costa but this was rebuffed by the Portuguese, who considered the charges of racist insults levelled against him to be defamatory and took the Liberian to court;[11] the incident resulted in the latter being sidelined for three weeks, also having to undergo facial surgery.

[14][15][16][17] In January 2006, after having been deemed surplus to requirements by new coach Co Adriaanse, Costa signed for Standard Liège from Belgium, reuniting with former Porto teammate Sérgio Conceição[18] and helping his new team to a runner-up finish in the league.

[19] Costa made his full international debut for Carlos Queiroz' Portugal on 11 November 1992 in a 2–1 friendly win over Bulgaria in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, France.

[22] He retired from international football following group-stage elimination at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan, having played 50 games;[23][24] in that competition, he scored an own goal in the 3–2 loss to the United States.

[39] He moved back to his homeland in the following off-season, signing at Segunda Liga side Arouca[40] and leaving by mutual consent less than three months later due to a poor string of results.

[56] On 20 December, he led the team to a 2–1 home win over top-flight club Boavista to make the semi-finals of the Taça da Liga for the first time;[57] they were eliminated there by Porto, as in the quarter-finals of the national cup.