Diogo Costa, the unexpected Portuguese hero of this Euro Cup, was born in Switzerland. In Rothrist, to be specific. A small town of just 7,500 inhabitants. At the age of seven he was already on Portuguese soil and now, at 24, he is the idol of all of Portugal. He took a saving foot against Sesko in extra time and He saved three penalties in the shootout. All the ones the Slovenians launched, in fact. No one in a European Championship has ever saved three penalties in a shootout.
Evidently he was chosen MVP of the duel against Slovenia. “He has had several outstanding moments. In addition to making three unprecedented saves in the shootout, he made a great save in the one-on-one against Sesko in overtime. “He showed a high level of concentration throughout the match, the mark of a top-level goalkeeper in major competitions,” analyzed by the UEFA Technical Observer Panel.
But this comes from afar. The Porto youth player established a new record in 2022 by becoming the goalkeeper who saved the most penalties (3) in the same edition of the Champions League. He is, in fact, the goalkeeper with the most saved penalties in the Champions League with the ‘Dragons’. How long it will last in northern Portugal is anyone’s guess. He has a contract until 2027 but has been crying out for years to go to a big European club. This national team tournament is the showcase he needed.
He is a star, he is going to be a great goalkeeper
“He’s a star, he’s going to be a great goalkeeper,” Iker Casillas himself predicted in the past. Lopetegui’s technical staff detected his talent and decided to bring him up to train – although he did not make his debut – with the first team. “He was very young. He was 15-16 years old. We had Casillas, but Julen liked him. The club had a lot of faith in him,” Juan Carlos Arévalo, Porto’s goalkeeping coach at the time, recalled to MARCA.
Was very young. He was 15-16 years old. We had Casillas, but Julen liked him. There was a lot of faith in him at the club.
Regarding his fame as a ‘penalty saver’ (a certainty, actually), Arévalo comments: “He is a specialist, tremendously calm. The confidence he has in himself is surprising.” At 24 years old, Diogo Costa is called to make history and set very high records with the Portuguese team. He has accumulated 154 official matches with Porto and 26 international appearances with his country’s national team.
