José Alberto Barroso Machado e Costa (born 31 October 1953) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a left winger, and is a manager.
In 15 Primeira Liga seasons – 16 as a professional in total – he amassed totals of 301 matches and 37 goals in representation of four teams, mostly Porto. Subsequently, he embarked in a lengthy managerial career.
Costa won 24 caps for Portugal and scored one goal,[6] against the United States in his second international match. His debut came on 8 March 1978 in a friendly match with France in Paris, while he was still a member of Académica.
Costa did not represent the nation at any international competition, and his last appearance was on 28 October 1983 against Poland, in a 1–0 away win for the UEFA Euro 1984qualifiers.
After retiring as a professional footballer Costa, who possessed a solid academic education (he completed a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Coimbra),[2] embarked on a coaching career. He briefly acted as assistant to Juca in the national team, then took charge of its youth sides and also assisted the following national team manager, Carlos Queiroz. His first head coach experience was with former team Académica in the second division, remaining one season with the club.
In 2005, Costa was hired to work in the United States for the "USA Seventeen Soccer Academy", as a technical director. He established himself in Santa Clara, California, assisting and technically supervising the various echelons of the academy. In July 2008, he was reunited with Queiroz as he joined the scouting department of the Portugal national team, working alongside Oceano da Cruz and English Julian Ward.[7][2]
In November 2011, Costa was appointed as head coach of Iran Pro League side Sanat Naft Abadan F.C. until the end of the season, replacing Gholam Hossein Peyrovani. In May 2012, after producing good results, his contract was extended for another year, but he eventually stepped down from his position late into that year.[8]