Diego Costa and Radamel Falcao -- how a partnership was born
Perhaps no other player influenced Diego Costa's career as much as Radamel Falcao, with whom he will be reunited this season after Chelsea completed a loan move for the Colombia captain.
When Costa returned to Atletico Madrid after the last of his three loan spells away, in 2012, Falcao was the man in possession of the striker's jersey for Diego Simeone's team. As a fellow non-EU squad member, he was also part of a problem that had Costa on the brink of a transfer out of Madrid, where the league quota of foreign players was forcing Simeone's hand. However, Falcao would prove an ally, not an enemy, as Costa made his long-awaited breakthrough.
The two men combined brilliantly in the game Costa remembers as the most important of his career -- the 2013 Copa del Rey final, against Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid. It was a match that had just about everything, and set the stage for Atleti's landmark season the following year.
By then, the Falcao-Costa axis was broken. It was the sale of Falcao to [Monaco]-- combined with astute deal-making by Mourinho and Chelsea -- that persuaded Costa and Atleti to turn down a bid from Liverpool and wait a year before Costa was unleashed on the Premier League.
The following is an excerpt from "Diego Costa: The Art of War," out now in paperback and ebook published by BackPage / Arena Sport.
Atletico -- Kings of the Bernabeu
The 2013 Copa del Rey final took place in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium on May 17 of that year: Atletico Madrid against Real Madrid. Costa would later describe the game as "the most important match of my career".
Asked in the build-up what the difference between the teams was, Simeone said: "€400m per year on the budget." There were other ways to quantify it. Real Madrid had won every one of the 10 previous derbies. Atletico had not beaten their old foes in the 25 matches they had played since returning to La Liga.
This one started in a brutally familiar fashion. Real pinned their opponents back and Cristiano Ronaldo scored a majestic header, battling free of Diego GodÃn's clutches at a corner, reading the flight perfectly and heading down into the bottom-left corner at the very top of his jump.
This was Simeone's Atleti, however. Things had changed. Radamel Falcao, isolated and frustrated up front, began to drop deep. Costa, returned to the team in a wide role on the right, started to run beyond his team-mate. It paid off.
In the 34th minute, Falcao wriggled between Raul Albiol and Sami Khedira near halfway, spun and sent a perfect diagonal pass into the run of Costa. The striker sprinted clear of Fabio Coentrao and, as he entered the box, thumped a low shot across Diego Lopez and in off the post.
The celebrations were so rabid that Arda Turan nearly tore the No. 19 shirt off Costa's back. The boy from Lagarto was now the tournament's top goalscorer and had been on target in every round. Ronaldo had been roughed up by Simeone's men and cracks began to show. First Jose Mourinho was sent off for confronting the referee, Carlos Clos Gomez, after a foul on his ace by Mario Suarez.
Madrid hit the woodwork three times but, during an agonising period of extra-time, Koke served up a perfect assist to the front post, where Miranda arrived to glance in a subtle header.
Ronaldo followed his manager down the tunnel six minutes from the end of extra-time, after he appeared to flick his boot at Gabi's face, a reaction to a challenge on him by the Atletico player. Gabi was off soon after that, picking up a second yellow for encroachment as his team killed the clock. The minutes become seconds. The whistle brought bedlam.
Spain's capital was Colchonero. The jinx was over. Atletico had won their fourth final in enemy territory, their 10th Copa del Rey, the third trophy in less than a year and a half under Simeone.
"Atletico -- Kings of the Bernabeu," declared the headlines.
Inside the dressing room, the pictures of Saint Gema and Saint Ildefonso had assumed the status of lucky amulets for the newly crowned champions. The club president, Enrique Cerezo, enveloped Costa in a delighted hug, while at the back of the room Arda Turan was sticking to a prematch promise and shaving his head.
"This is the worst season of my life," said Mourinho. "A Super Cup, a semifinal, a runner-up. For many coaches that would be a good year. For me it is the worst."
For Atleti, it was one of the best. The celebrations continued the following day and Costa led the way from the top of the bus taking the team to the Neptune statue and fountain in the middle of Madrid, where Atleti traditionally celebrate their trophies.
"The players never stopped believing," Simeone told the raucous crowd. "For 14 years we could not win, but we had the strength to wait until it happened. We won the best match. We won the final. We won in the Bernabeu."
Delayed, not diverted
Diego Costa was granted Spanish nationality in the summer of 2013 and on July 5 the striker presented himself at the Civil Registry in Madrid to swear allegiance to the Spanish constitution. Now, at last, Atletico had one more space for a non-EU player. This was great news for the club but Costa's new status also made him an attractive proposition for any club shopping for a striker in the summer transfer market.
Liverpool were quickest off the mark, offering €25 million for the Brazilian and triggering the release clause in his contract. However, Jose Mourinho, recently returned to Chelsea, had also identified Costa as a primary target, a Didier Drogba-style centre-forward around whom he could forge a new winning machine. The Portuguese coach had watched Costa since he first arrived at Braga, and had felt the force of the striker during his breakout season close-up as manager of Real Madrid.
However, Mourinho had yet to persuade the owner of Chelsea, Roman Abrahmovic, to accelerate his rebuilding plans. In both acquiring new players and moving others on, the process would be gradual. For example, Benfica's Nemanja Matic, another immediate target for the new manager, would have to wait until January 2014.
For Atleti, the sale could wait. At the start of pre-season, Falcao packed his bags and moved to Monaco for a fee reported at €60m. In came David Villa from Barcelona for €5.1m. Business was good. If Costa could not be signed now, a strategy was needed to ensure he was delayed, and not diverted.
Chelsea and Mourinho made their case to Costa and Atletico: turn down Liverpool now and we will sign you -- for more money -- in 12 months. Samuel Eto'o was the stop-gap acquisition. Behind the scenes, Costa was lined up for summer 2014, in negotiations aimed at making all parties happy for the season ahead. On Aug. 14, the club renewed Costa's contract, doubling the salary and extending until June 2018. The release clause also went up, and the understanding was that the new season would be Costa's last for Los Colchoneros.
Costa now carried a weight of responsibility for Simeone. A player who so often had been a whisker away from a bargain-basement transfer out of Atleti was now the jewel of the team.
Comments
Post a Comment