With FC Augsburg, Elton da Costa rose to the 2nd Bundesliga in 2006. In the Stadionkurier, the 42-year-old talks about his difficult start in Germany, a legendary relegation game and his job as a player-coach.
Hello Elton, where did I just reach you?
Home, I just got back from Brazil yesterday.
Brazil? Were you on home leave or on a scouting tour?
Holidays first and foremost, I haven’t been to Brazil in three years so it was way overdue. But of course you also use such trips to check the situation on site.
You are a coach at the 1. FCA Darmstadt league club. There are eight Brazilians in your squad, that can’t be a coincidence.
It’s actually twelve. FCA Darmstadt has been working with players from South America for a long time, with very good experiences. We sign young Brazilian talents, most of whom are between 18 and 20 years old and enjoyed a very good education as youngsters at clubs like Flamengo, Botafogo or Santos. But for many of them the opportunities here are better to be able to develop further.
In fact, you’re a player-coach. You are 42 years old – that says a lot about your fitness.
I’m in top shape, but that also has something to do with my job. Since I finished my professional career at SVD in 2014, I have been working as a personal trainer for a rehabilitation center here in Darmstadt. I’ve also been running my own football school for a number of years, so I’m always on the move, so to speak.
Didn’t you recently keep ex-FCA player Marcel Heller fit?
Not only him, but also Sebastian Rode from Eintracht Frankfurt. I really enjoy my jobs, which is why I would like to continue working in this area, also as an assistant or technical trainer at a higher-class club.
You moved to Germany to FSV Frankfurt when you were 18. Can you still remember how you set foot on German soil for the first time as a teenager at the airport?
I was 17 and it was an overwhelming feeling because Europe was my dream. I had previously completed a trial in Spain, but in the end it ended up being in Germany. It was November and very cold, and when the first snow fell a few weeks later, it was a bit of a shock for me because I had never seen anything like it before. (laughs) The first few weeks were hard because I was so homesick and tears shed from time to time. But I was overwhelmed by many things here in a positive sense, I quickly acclimatized and things were going well for me in terms of sport.
From Frankfurt your journey continued a few kilometers to Darmstadt 98 – the club for which you played the most games in your career. Darmstadt became your new home.
It was always upwards, from Darmstadt it then went on to the 2nd Bundesliga to Unterhaching and then in 2005 to FC Augsburg. It really was five wonderful years where pretty much everything fell into place. Of course, promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga was a real highlight and I still have fond memories of the games against 1860 Munich.
You then go to Kickers Offenbach and from there back to Darmstadt. I once witnessed an OFC derby against Lilien am Bieberer Berg, and it was really hot. Were there any problems with the change?
When I went from Augsburg to Offenbach I was worried about how the fans would welcome me, but to my surprise they welcomed me with open arms. It was similar when I came back from OFC to Lilien in 2012, and I wasn’t blamed for my move there either. As a player, I’ve always put myself at the service of the team, I’ve always been a team player and the fans seem to have appreciated that.
In 2014 you finally became a legend at SVD. The relegation game to the 2nd Bundesliga between Darmstadt 98 and Arminia Bielefeld couldn’t be surpassed in terms of drama.
I still get goosebumps when I think about it. We lost the first leg at Böllenfalltor 1:3. Hardly anyone gave anything to us anymore. But while we were still in the dressing room we had sworn in for the second leg, we were actually able to turn the game around on the Alm and after 90 minutes it was 3-1 for us. Renewal!
And you on the bench.
Yeah, I couldn’t stand it there any longer. I kept running back and forth impatiently and then Bielefeld made it 2-3. I went to the coach and said to him: “If you substitute me, I’ll score.” And that’s exactly what happened, there were only a few minutes left to play, I ran forward and just waited to get the ball. It was already 122 minutes, suddenly I see the ball in front of me, I shoot and the thing wriggles in the net. You can’t even describe such a feeling, it was amazing. But the referee added an extra minute and we were very lucky because Bielefeld hit the crossbar with a header. After that, all the dams broke.
Coach was then…
… Dirk Schuster, who later switched to FCA.
You’ve made it to over 400 competitive games in the second and third leagues, a more than respectable number.
I’m very proud of that, precisely because I sacrificed a lot when I was young and fought my way through everything. It’s a shame it didn’t work out in the Bundesliga, that was still a big dream for me.
How much do you follow FCA?
As best I can, I’m very busy and always on the pitch myself at the weekend, but I always know where the club is at. In any case, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that staying up in the league will work out again this year. (ws)
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