Rui Costa (full name: Rui Manuel César Costa) is a retired Portuguese professional footballer best known for his playmaking skills, vision and passing. He played as an attacking midfielder and spent several important years at ACF Fiorentina.

• Full name: Rui Manuel César Costa
• Date of birth: 29 March 1972
• Place of birth: Amadora, Portugal
• Nationality: Portuguese
• Height: 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
• Primary position: Attacking midfielder / Number 10

Club career highlights

• Benfica (Portugal): Began his professional career at SL Benfica, where he emerged as one of Portugal’s brightest young talents in the early 1990s.
• Fiorentina (Italy): Transferred to ACF Fiorentina in 1994 and quickly became the creative fulcrum of the team. At Fiorentina he was admired for his technique, long and short passing, set-piece delivery and ability to produce decisive assists and goals. He helped Fiorentina win the Coppa Italia (1995–96 and 2000–01) and the Supercoppa Italiana (1996). Rui Costa’s performances at Fiorentina established him as one of Serie A’s top playmakers during the 1990s.
• Milan (Italy): Moved to AC Milan in 2001 (after Fiorentina’s financial troubles) and continued his top-level play, winning Serie A (2003–04) and the UEFA Champions League (2002–03) among other honours.
• Return to Benfica: Finished his playing career with a return to Benfica in 2006, retiring from professional football in 2008.

International career

• Portugal national team: Rui Costa was a regular for Portugal across the 1990s and 2000s. He earned over 90 caps and scored multiple goals. He represented Portugal at UEFA European Championships (notably Euro 2000) and FIFA World Cups, forming part of the famous “Golden Generation” alongside players such as Luís Figo and Pauleta.

Style of play

• Classic creative number 10: exceptional vision, range of passing, precise through-balls and set-piece quality.
• Calm on the ball, strong technique and ability to dictate tempo and unlock defenses with passes rather than relying on pace.

After retirement

• Moved into football management and administration. He took on roles at Benfica’s sporting and executive levels, including serving as a club director and later president of SL Benfica (elected 2021).

Legacy

Rui Costa is widely regarded as one of Portugal’s greatest attacking midfielders. He is remembered for his elegance, creativity and consistent ability to supply teammates with high-quality chances during his spells at Fiorentina, AC Milan and Benfica.