Rui Costa, one of the most underated players of our generation?

[Quaresma]

Do you believe the "Maestro" is one of the most underated players the past generation of soccer?

I personally think he is, as he never gets the recognition and respect he deserves.

For example, Scholes is being compared to Deco in that massive debate thread, where I think it should be Scholes and Rui Costa instead as they are both the same age, and been around for almost the same length of time, and both were promident during the past generation. Yet instead Deco is the one being mentioned in his place, and wrongly so in my opinion, seeming like Rui Costa wasnt deemed worthy enough to be mentioned:(

As someone mentioned in the "most elegant" footballer thread, Zinedine Zidane and Rui Costa were the two most elegant footballers of our generation in their primes.

What do you guys think? Will he be remembered as one of the best playmakers of all time, or seemingly forgotten as it seems to be the case already..Deco doesnt hold a candle to Rui Costa imho.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueiyfDAkxuU

I tried posting this on the bigsoccer poll forum, but it didnt show up..so maybe someone could move it there if they deem it neccecery.

[Viola Star]

I think he's rated by most as a great player. I love the guy.

[Wolfbeatseagle]

People who know football know how good Rui Costa was. The problem lies with the fact his best attribute was his passing which gets swept under the rug in favor of flashy dribbling. Rui Costa is definetely better than Deco. My favorite Rui Costa moment was when he split the Real Madrid midfield and defense right down the middle with a ball to Sheva, beautiful pass.

It's funny that people are snubbing Rui Costa for Deco. Didn't Rui Costa retire from the national team because Deco is a naturalized citizen?

[Cassano]

As a Milan fan, I saw a lot of Rui Costa, and I can say he was a great player. He had that elegant style of play where he could pass a defender with such ease without having to do all these flashy tricks and moves. Almost like a Portguese Roberto Baggio. He was unlucky to lose his spot at Milan when a 22 year old unknown Brazilian named Kaka came and exploded in the 2003-2004 season, but he never complained and did well when he was called upon.

[canzano55]

Around these forums if you've not played in the Premiership you're not as famous....


The fact remains though he's probably one of the most talented players Portugal has ever produced which is saying a lot.

[sab456]

Would you guys rate kaka in his prime being a better player than rui costa in his prime ?
And in what sense, would you find either player to be a notch above the other ?

[Spartak]

Would you guys rate kaka in his prime being a better player than rui costa in his prime ?
And in what sense, would you find either player to be a notch above the other ?
We'll have to wait and see when Kaká hits his prime ;) In all honesty, I think Kaká is better. Which is saying something because I felt Rui Costa was better than Zidane when they both played in Serie A. But Rui Costa never got the same kind of praise from abroad that Zidane got. But if you ask most Serie A fans they will tell you Rui Costa did more in Serie A than Zidane.

[aloisius]

He scored far too few goals for an attacking midfielder. He just didn’t get into the box enough . maybe he didn’t have the lungs or he didn’t have the desire for it.

[Spartak]

He scored far too few goals for an attacking midfielder. He just didn’t get into the box enough . maybe he didn’t have the lungs or he didn’t have the desire for it.
He scored more goals than Zidane while they were both in Serie A. He scored 40 goals while he was at Fiorentina but many people just remember his goal drought at Milan. And let's not forget, he never took penalties like a lot of other playmakers of his time did(Zidane, Totti, Rivaldo, etc.) So he could have scored even more goals. But he wasn't a goal scorer, he was a playmaker. He helped Batigol, Sheva, Pippo, etc. score many of their goals.

[sreeja]

I think Rui costa is rated as a great player.

[flash1316]

He scored far too few goals for an attacking midfielder. He just didn’t get into the box enough . maybe he didn’t have the lungs or he didn’t have the desire for it.
He was a purist. He regarded it as his job to create goals not score them. He didn't need to score goals because he could create them with a through ball almost at will. I think he's the greatest #10 of his generation.

[dor02]

Rui Costa is underrated. It doesn't help when you are playing in the same generation as Figo, Ronaldo, Zidane and Beckham, although the latter is a marketing tool and nowhere as great as the other players. Not only that, when you get Brazilians like Kaka and Deco involved, nine times out of ten, the Brazilian will get the benefit of the doubt. The Serie A of the 90s had some many other stars, like Batigol, ADP, Zola, R Baggio and Weah so Rui would slip under the radar.

As for him being a mainly a passer, he did have some good dribbles. His best one was when he scored for Portugal in the Euro 2004 quarter-final against England. A great dribble and a great long-range drive results in the best goal scored in the Euro.

[O_Glorioso]

He was overlooked during his time. I never saw him on FIFA WPOTY list which was absurd. However, Rui never minded and that's what made him such a great person. He was in it for the love of the game and unlike many footballers, he returned to the club he loved to finish out his career. He's part of a dying generation that played the game elegantly and made you love the sport. I personally see him as one of the greatest playmakers the game saw. He had incredible vision and still shows it with Benfica.

[santos6]

Being my favourite player by far I feel he has been over looked by the general footballing audience. But Fiorentina fans and Serie A fans in general, the people who really watched him have nothing but praise for him.

His vision was his greatest asset Zidane was a better player and could get his whole team around him to play well, but he couldn't split defenses open on a regular basis like Rui could, I still don't think there is a guy who can play a better through pass then Rui. But players like him are a dying breed a true #10 that his sole purpose is to create chances (can only think of Riquelme and Diego) It's funny that we want him to be compared to Deco and Scholes two very good players but not #10's those guys get their noses dirty with the defensive work, they bomb into the box, put in some nasty tackles, BUT neither of them can hold a candle to Rui's vision and passing accuracy, BUT both of them can score much better than Rui could! That was his one downfall he didn't score enough goals, his shots outside the box we're either spectacular goals or they put more fear into the hearts of the spectators behind the goal and corner flags then the keepers.

All in all he had a couple years at Fiorentina where he should have at least been in the running for world player of the year if he had played for Juve or Milan at that time, he may have had a better chance, but I think he doesn't really have any regrets about his footballing career, he loved the game and his fans loved him for it, he is an idol in Florence and the little that Milan got to see of him they love him too.

[Massimo_Oddo]

I remember him ripping England apart in Euro 2000 though Figo got all the credit. Rui Costa assisted all 3 goals and the vision to setup Nuno Gomes' goal was terrific.

Zidane played for very succesful Real and Juve sides. Rui Costa played for Fiorentina for most of his career.

I also thought Veron was better than Zidane in Serie A too.

[z187 Portugal]

If Rui Costa scored more goals he would have been given more credit. He scored spectacular goals but if he scored more often he would have been rated much more highly.

but hes a great player one of my hero's the best throughballs, vision I have ever seen he assisted many goals never get the credit he deserves.

[Bronaldo]

Everytime he has/had the ball i always felt that something special was about to happen. He's underrated. One of the best playmakers of his generation.

[Figo_7]

I think that when his name is mentioned, people do remember how great he was and praise him rightfully so.

BUT if someone was to ask who are the greatest players of his generation people very rarely mention him. I do think he is being forgotten but he is still putting on great performances for Benfica and not just in the Liga but even in the CL he had great performances against Milan and really showed his ability has not faded. Sadly he said he will retire by the end of the season, I would love to see him play for a couple more years.