{"id":78996,"date":"2025-08-06T12:41:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T11:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?p=78996"},"modified":"2025-08-06T12:41:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T11:41:17","slug":"porto-struck-by-tragedy-again-clubs-third-former-player-dies-unexpectedly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/porto-struck-by-tragedy-again-clubs-third-former-player-dies-unexpectedly\/","title":{"rendered":"Porto Struck by Tragedy Again: Club\u2019s Third Former Player Dies Unexpectedly"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Portuguese football is in shock after former FC Porto captain Jorge Costa passed away on Tuesday at the age of 53, following a sudden cardiac arrest at the club&rsquo;s training centre. A prominent figure in Portuguese football both on and off the pitch, Costa was serving as Porto&rsquo;s director of professional football at the time of his passing.<\/p><p>Costa had felt unwell on Tuesday morning and been taken to S&atilde;o Jo&atilde;o Hospital in Porto, where he &ldquo;went into cardiopulmonary arrest in the emergency room and died&rdquo;, a hospital source told the Renascen&ccedil;a radio station. Costa captained the iconic Jose Mourinho-led Porto side to UEFA Champions League triumph in 2004. Across a glittering playing career, he made 324 appearances for the club, won 24 trophies, including eight Primeira Liga titles, and earned 50 caps for Portugal.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"qme\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/E2ERNO?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>#E2ERNO<\/a> &#128153; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QjpiHHBhqW\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>pic.twitter.com\/QjpiHHBhqW<\/a><\/p>&mdash; FC Porto (@FCPorto) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FCPorto\/status\/1953046941555687873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>August 6, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>Costa&rsquo;s untimely passing marks the third tragedy to hit Porto this summer, following the unexpected deaths of former players <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/tragic-loss-liverpool-diogo-jota-brother-car-accident-spain\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva in July<\/a>, both of whom had deep connections to the club. <\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mourinho and Former Teammates Pay Emotional Tribute<\/h2><p>Costa&rsquo;s career was defined by his fierce commitment and relentless style of play, which earned him the nickname &ldquo;Bicho&rdquo; (Bug). After starting his career at Porto, he had a brief but memorable loan spell at Charlton Athletic in the Premier League during the 2001-02 season. He retired in 2006 and swiftly transitioned into management, coaching at 16 clubs across Europe, Asia and Africa before returning to Porto in an executive role last season.<\/p><p>Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho was visibly emotional at a press conference ahead of his team&rsquo;s Champions League qualifier against Feyenoord. He paid tribute to his former captain,<\/p><blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&ldquo;If he could speak with me now he would say &lsquo;do your press conference, tomorrow play the game mister and win the game &ndash; forget about me. I&rsquo;m going to try and do my job today and tomorrow, and then I&rsquo;ll cry after.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Jose Mourinho is moved to tears at a Fenerbahce press conference, paying tribute to the captain of his Champions League winning Porto team Jorge Costa. <br><br>Costa sadly passed away at the age of 53 due to a heart attack. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FZmQ0wji3m\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>pic.twitter.com\/FZmQ0wji3m<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MenInBlazers\/status\/1952782961478086967?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>August 5, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>Former teammates also expressed their sorrow. Deco, a fellow member of that historic 2004 squad, called Costa a &ldquo;legendary captain who inspired us all.&rdquo;<\/p><p><strong>Also Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/heung-min-son-asks-spurs-for-farewell\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>Son Set for Emotional Spurs Exit as LAFC Talks Advance<\/a><\/strong><\/p><p>Veteran defender Pepe added,<\/p><blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&ldquo;Your dedication and legacy will always live in the unparalleled history of victories of FC Porto. Rest in peace, Jorge Costa.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote><p>Costa&rsquo;s accolades include the Portuguese Golden Ball in 2000, awarded to the league&rsquo;s best player, and success at both club and international levels. His journey through management saw him take charge of clubs in Portugal, Romania, Tunisia, Cyprus, India, and Gabon.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mm-layout mm-layout-type-post mm-layout-slot4\">\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Costa&#8217;s untimely passing marks the third tragedy to hit Porto this summer, following the deaths of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":78998,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mux_skip_reasons":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[4038],"tags":[6861,9024],"class_list":["post-78996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer","tag-fc-porto","tag-jorge-costa"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Porto Struck by Tragedy Again: Club&rsquo;s Third Former Player Dies Unexpectedly - 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