Undoubtedly a fan favourite at Stamford Bridge given his lack of respect for opponents, clinical goalscoring and feisty edge, Diego Costa has been a wonderful signing for Chelsea since arriving from Atletico Madrid last summer.
With a Premier League goalscoring record of 21 goals in 29 appearances to date, Costa has managed to succeed where the likes of Fernando Torres and Andriy Shevchenko have failed in the past.
This is why it’s all the more surprising why both Costa and the rest of his Chelsea team-mates haven’t really started the 2015/16 season in the scintillating way we were expecting them to.
Criticised for taking their eye off the ball, Chelsea’s players still look like they’re on their holidays at the moment after winning the Premier League title in fantastic fashion last term and maybe the international break came at the perfect time for Jose Mourinho’s men.
Particularly in the Blues’ 3-0 humbling away at Manchester City, Costa drew much criticism from the Chelsea faithful for going over the top with his protests against not only the referee but squaring up to the Citizens’ players in the process.
When Chelsea are winning, Costa’s antics are all well and good but when things aren’t going to plan, the Spanish international’s temper tantrums can prove a burden somewhat.
Having scored his first goal of the season away to West Bromwich Albion, Costa needs to concentrate on doing that much more often to help haul the Blues back up the table from an unfamiliar 13th position at present.
With the international break doing little to inspire anybody apart from Wales and Northern Ireland fans at the moment, we’re taking this moment today to devise five facts about Chelsea’s colourful striker that you may not have known already.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 things you didn’t know about Chelsea striker Diego Costa.
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Up until 16, Diego Costa played street football
Ever wondered where Diego Costa picked up that unruly temper of his?
While the likes of Wayne Rooney can pay claim to the fact they made their Premier League debut at the age of 16, Diego Costa was still playing football out on the Brazilian streets of Lagarto up until that age.
As we all know by now, Costa is a tenacious character and this stems from his time spent playing street football in the favelas of his hometown.
having eventually started on the books of Portuguese club side Braga, Costa claimed when having finally reached the professional level: “On the pitch I fought with everyone, I couldn’t control myself.
“I started playing football on the streets and that’s why I was brought up the way I was.”
He refused to train at Albacete due to staff not being paid
With Costa having truly made the biggest breakthrough in his professional career during his formidable goalscoring spell in 2013/14 at Atletico Madrid, this moment marked the end of a long journey for Costa who had endured multiple loan spells, including one to Spanish lower division side Albacete.
Scoring nine times for the Castilla-La Mancha-based side in 35 appearances during his temporary stay, his spell here was most notable due to some of the antics Costa used to get up to away from the pitch.
One such instance occurred when Albacete were experiencing some financial difficulties in the 2008/09 season and while the Spanish club did manage to pay the playing squad, this was at the expense of the rest of the club’s staff and upon hearing this news, Costa refused to train.
Speaking about the situation, Albacete medical assistant Manolo Bleda mentioned: “The club paid the players but not the rest of the staff.
“When he heard that, Diego refused to train until everyone was paid.”
Despite being born in Brazil, his father named him after Maradona
When you think of the great rivalries in world football, you’ll think of Manchester United versus Liverpool, Red Star Belgrade versus Partizan Belgrade, Olympiakos versus Panathinaikos and of course, Brazil versus Argentina.
Despite the feelings of loathing between the latter South American nations, this didn’t stop Diego Costa’s father Jose de Jesus from naming Costa after the great Argentine hero Diego Maradona.
A highly controversial move given the intense rivalry by the great South American footballing nations, Costa infamously went on to reject Brazil at international level too, later opting to play his football for Spain.
Thus it wasn’t surprising that he was met with a hostile reception on his return to the country of his birth during the World Cup last summer where he was roundly booed by the locals in a forgettable tournament for the European outfit.
He used to use hotel pillows on away days to kidnap the club doctor at Albacete
Upon closer inspecting Diego Costa’s eventual rise to stardom, it appears that loan spell at Albacete drew all of the cheekiness out of the striker in just one season.
Having already read about Costa refusing to train out of respect for the team’s non-playing staff not being paid during 2008/09, another thing he got up to that season was ambushing the club doctors on away days using the pillow technique.
Obviously enjoying some good camaraderie with Albacete’s medical staff during that temporary season on loan, when the Spanish side were playing at an away fixture, Costa reportedly used to use hotel pillow cases to sneak up on the club doctor while ambushing him.
Yeah…we’ll let Diego Costa get on with that one himself!
He once drew the wrath of a former Chelsea boss
Having forgotten about his Brazilian allegiances and defected to play for Spain back in 2014, this of course caused shock and scandal back home in the South American nation.
Roundly booed while playing for Spain in Brazil at the World Cup last summer, Brazilian fans had to of course put up with the likes of Fred up top while pining for some of their previous world beaters such as Ronaldo and Rivaldo up top.
Boasting Neymar of course, Costa could’ve proved the perfect foil for the Barcelona man but as the story goes, it wasn’t meant to be.
Former flop of a Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari previously declared upon hearing about Costa’s decision to represent Spain: “A Brazilian player who refuses to wear the shirt of the Brazilian national team and compete in a World Cup in your country is automatically withdrawn.
“He is turning his back on a dream of millions, to represent our national team, the five-time champions in a World Cup in Brazil.”
