By Trung Can
“I fought with everyone, I couldn’t control myself. I insulted everyone, I had no respect for the opposition, I thought I had to kill them”- Diego Costa
Costa playing for Atletico in 2013
They called him ‘El Cholo’ (The Beast) because of his strong physicality and aggressive spirit on the field. You will probably not like him if you are a fan of beautiful soccer. This soccer player is Diego Costa, a striker who was brought to his highest level by Atletico Madrid. The club is well known for its tradition of creating world-class strikers who play beautiful football with appealing appearances that fans always go crazy about, players like Torres, Aguero, Forlan, and Falcao. Even though Costa does not appear as a beautiful image like those players, none of them brought as much success and glory as he did for Atletico.
Costa does not have to ability to dribble pass 2 or 3 players, neither can he give a creative pass or beautiful move on the fields, he possesses something different. As soon as the match started, he would become a monster, extremely effective with his own aggressive and even hostile attitude towards the other team. He would never stop chasing the ball from minute one, even throw himself into the opponents to get it back. With a scary face of a killer and a competitive attitude, his appearance can immediately strengthen the pressure on the field. On a normal match day, there must be at least a few occasions when Costa turns the match into a wrestling or street-fight competition. He would insult the defender, collide with the striker, and even foul the goalie to intimidate the opponent. He also hardly missed any opportunities to dive or to put pressure on the referee to create advantages. Sometimes when the bar was brought up too high, he even disputed with his teammates and yielded at them to push the team going forward. And just like that, when the opponents were tired of chasing and fighting or driven by the intimidation that they made a mistake, he would score, a lot of goals.
Although his bold and aggressive playing style sometimes backfires, giving Costa many serious injuries, cards as well as hostilities from opponent fans and those who love beautiful soccer, this fearless striker does not seem to care. He would never change his playing style as long as it can bring victory and glory to his club and his fans. Indeed, at every big club he has ever been to, he brought changes to their history, especially for Atletico Madrid. Season 2013-2014 was a miracle season for both Costa and Alletico. After years living under the shadow of the rich and high-class neighbor Real Madrid, the club, with its best player named Diego Costa, finally defeated Real twice and won the La Liga trophy. From that point, Atletico Madrid has broken the territory of Real Madrid and Barcelona in La Liga and remained the only challenger in the league for these two clubs.
Costa is now playing for Chelsea FC in England. Last year, he won the Premier League and was the top scorer of the tournament.
It is important to understand that there are two versions of Diego Costa: off and on the field. Outside the pitch, he is believed to be extremely funny and have a kind heart with constant donations and supports to charity (refer to references for more information about Costa’s good acts).
References:
http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/bad-dog-top-dog-rise-diego-costa#b1RiHfuBBCqrvbYC.99
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/28/real-madrid-atletico-madrid-la-liga
http://www.thesportbible.com/articles/diego-costa-helped-an-arsenal-fan-save-an-orphanage-250116
