Place of birth Singen, Germany Name Mario Costa 1984–1989 Sporting CP Role Footballer | Years Team Height 1.75 m 1989–1995 Sporting CP | |
Full name Mario Teixeira da Costa Date of birth (1970-11-24) 24 November 1970 (age 45) | ||
Mário Teixeira da Costa (born 24 November 1970), known as Marinho, is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a right back.
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During a 13-year professional career he amassed Primeira Liga totals of 112 games and two goals in 11 seasons, representing five clubs including Sporting and Benfica.
Club career
Born in Singen, Germany to Portuguese parents, Marinho returned to the land of his ancestors and joined Sporting Clube de Portugal's youth system at the age of 13. Initially a midfielder, he made his competitive debut on 8 March 1989 in a game against F.C. Vizela for the Taça de Portugal, after coming on as a substitute for Paulo Silas.
In the following year, manager Raul Águas converted Marinho into a right back, where he went on to appear in most of his 85 competitive games, eventually beating competition from Fernando Nélson. However, after playing in only ten league games in his last two seasons combined, he signed for crosstown rivals S.L. Benfica in 1995 as a replacement for Abel Xavier.
During his spell there, Marinho was initially first-choice, but was eventually deemed surplus to requirements and joined fellow Primeira Liga side S.C. Campomaiorense. He featured rarely for that team and his following, C.F. Estrela da Amadora, this being interspersed by two years of inactivity.