Raised in Rothrist, he now conjures Portugal into the quarter-finals

It was the 115th minute of the European Championship round of 16 between Portugal and Slovenia when the oldie Pepe made a mistake. The ball slipped away from the center-back, leaving the way clear for the opposing striker. Benjamin Sesko was able to run alone towards the Portuguese goal. Is that the decision? No. The Slovenian attacker failed in a one-on-one against the Portuguese goalkeeper Diogo Costa, who parried the ball with the tip of his foot.

Costa’s defensive action is reminiscent of Emiliano Martinez’s save in the final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The Argentine had saved his team in the penalty shootout with a similar last-minute save against Frenchman Randal Kolo Muani. Both actions saved their teams from a late defeat.

The Portuguese reaction showed how important Costa’s action was. Pepe sank to the ground and thanked him by waving to the sky. Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was already emotionally exhausted at this point. Minutes earlier he had run across the pitch crying because he had missed a penalty in the 105th minute. The favorites had a lot of trouble against the underdogs. But now the goalkeeper gave Portugal new hope for the penalty shootout. And indeed: all of the Portuguese shooters scored in the shootout – and Costa saved the three attempts by the Slovenians.

Portugal already had a penalty killer

“That was probably the best game of my life,” said Costa after the match. He had tears in his eyes. In his home country, he is now put on a par with former national goalkeeper Ricardo. He earned himself the status of a legend when he saved a penalty from the Englishman Darius Vassell without gloves at the 2004 European Championships on home soil and then scored the decisive penalty himself. Two years later, in the World Cup quarter-finals – again against England – he saved attempts by Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. Ricardo was the first goalkeeper to save three shots in a penalty shootout at a World Cup.

Costa is now the first to achieve this at a European Championship. The 24-year-old is considered a penalty specialist and has already set a record in the Champions League: in the 2022/23 season, he was the first goalkeeper in the history of the competition to save three attempts in a row.

The Portuguese newspaper “A Bola” wrote about the “hero of Portugal” and gave Costa’s performance the highest score of 10. The newspaper “O Jogo” judged that erecting a statue for Diogo Costa was “not enough” to adequately honor his performance. And the national coach Roberto Martínez said that his goalie had reached a “new level” that evening in Frankfurt.

Costa grew up in Switzerland but then returned to Portugal

Costa also brings a little bit of Switzerland to the Portuguese team. He was born in Rothrist in 1999 and grew up in the Aargau town where the Swiss drinks manufacturer Rivella has its headquarters. SRF presenter Sascha Ruefer spoke of the “man from Rothrist” during the game – in reference to his saying “the man from Sursee”, which he always used when Haris Seferovic scored a goal. The former national team striker comes from the Lucerne community.

Diogo Costa has a Swiss passport and, according to reports, his father still lives here. But he no longer has much in common with his country of birth. When he was seven years old, he moved back to Portugal with his mother. His career began in a local club. At the age of eleven, he joined FC Porto’s youth academy. There he went through the junior levels; in November 2019, he made his debut in the professional team. Since the 2021/22 season, he has been FC Porto’s regular goalkeeper, and since 2022 also in the “Seleção”.

Costa’s role models are Vitor Baía and Iker Casillas. The latter was his predecessor at FC Porto and said in 2018 about the then 19-year-old: “I believe he can become a great goalkeeper.” At that time, Costa was still playing in the second team of the traditional Portuguese club. Costa has long since fulfilled Casillas’ hopes. On Monday evening, he surpassed those of an entire country.