Having a beer with Jorge Costašŗ
2ļøā£1ļøā£ I enjoyed writing my 20 Players and 20 Places series last year, so Iām off again this time to celebrate 21 years of blogging and Iām picking Addicks from my time as a supporter that I would love to join for a beer or any adult beverage of their choice.
Break some bread, chew the cud, ruminate over the old days, the pleasure would be all mine.
Jorge Costa goes down as one of those out of the ordinary signings. Jorge had fallen out quite publicly with then Porto boss OctƔvio Machado and in December 2001 Curbs pulled a masterstroke by encouraging the Portuguese defender to join us on a 5-month loan.
āThe Tankā as he was affectionately known was also desperate to make Portugalās 2002 World Cup squad so was looking for first team football, and chose our little corner of south-east London to do that.
Jorge was a Rolls Royce of a defender, rarely needing to move into top gear, probably because like an actual tank he didnāt have one. He read the game so well. His positional sense and ability to intercept and break up dangerous attacks was some of the best Iāve ever seen in a Charlton shirt.
He had a brilliant football brain, which would explain why he has stayed in the game as a coach and a manager.
His first two games were wins against Chelsea (late Lisbie winner) and Tottenham (Lisbie scored twice). I remember so well the return Chelsea game at The Valley in March when hands down Costa was MoW.
Curbs wanted him to bring his experience to bear to help crystallize our back line which he did as part of the indelible Young, Fish, Costa, Fortune āŗļø.
Sadly despite an agreed Ā£4m deal between the two clubs, at the end of the 2001/02 season Costa returned to Porto to play for JosĆ© Mourinho. Named club captain he went on to lift two league titles, a UEFA Cup and the Champions League. He also went to the 2002 World Cup.
Over a large glass of port and a plate of bifana, Iād want to reminisce about his last game for us at Old Trafford when he looked truly moved by the reception he got from travelling fans. Does he keep in touch with Luke, Mark and Jon?
How would he compare Mourinho and Curbs? What about his own managerial career that has taken in 16 clubs and a stint as Gabonās national manager, plus his 24 playing career titles and is it true he loved the Valley Cafe.
3ļøā£ Jorge CostašPorto šµš¹ š· 2011 Quinta do Nova vintage port.
Apparently he loved a cigarette too….
At his unveiling interview he was asked how he would play against Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. Chelsea were our next opponents and he was on a roll of great form, scoring at will. He pointed out that JFH had never scored against him in a match – apparently everyone in the room, bar Costa, laughed. A few days later we played Chelsea, he made his debut, and we won 1-0.
I also remember his departure – he was going to sign full time but had been persuaded to return by an exciting new manager at Porto. I looked up to see who he meant and saw the name Jose Mourinho for the first time. That was some sliding door moment for him – he could have stayed, earned decent money and maybe been set for life but probably forgotten as a player, instead he lead his team to a Champion’s League trophy.
I think he may have been the first in a line of CAFC players to f****** hate Millwall as well š
I absolutely loved that man despite him being a loan player. The bit in ‘the rise and rise of charlton athletic’ about his arrival and the Chelsea game is priceless – when Curbs told him to warm-up he stood up and touched his toes and said he was ready.
I was at old Trafford that day -:it was chrissie Powell who made him come up the pitch to the fans as I think he was genuinely taken by surprise. And we held up sir Alex and his mob starting their celebrations. Did he even have a clue who Millwall were?
RIP legend. I’m glad to see he was not forgotten by at least some Charlton fans.
https://chicagoaddick.com/2025/08/05/jorge-costa-rip/