Place of birth Braga, Portugal Name Paulo Costinha Playing position Role Footballer | 1984–1988 Braga Height 1.84 m 1988–1992 Boavista Position Goalkeeper | |
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Full name Paulo Rebelo Costinha Castro Date of birth (1973-09-22) 22 September 1973 (age 42) | ||
Paulo Rebelo Costinha Castro (born 22 September 1973), known as Costinha, is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
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He appeared in 229 Primeira Liga games in 16 seasons, mainly with União de Leiria (six years) and Sporting (four).
Club career
Costinha was born in Braga. A product of Boavista FC's youth system, he went on to represent Primeira Liga clubs FC Porto and Sporting Clube de Portugal – being mostly a backup player – as well as U.D. Leiria, where he established himself in the top level.
After a short abroad stint with Spain's CD Tenerife, appearing rarely for the Segunda División team, Costinha joined C.F. Os Belenenses for the 2006–07 season. He only was a starter in his first year as he lost his position after the January 2007 arrival of Brazilian Júlio César, being definitely released in the 2009 summer without any further league appearances and retiring shortly after, aged nearly 36.
International career
Costinha represented Portugal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, playing in three matches out of six as the national side finished in fourth place. Previously, he appeared in all the games at the 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship in Australia, with the under-20s losing all three group stage matches (five goals conceded).