Brazilian Costa defends decision to play for Spain Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa has defended his decision to represent Spain rather than his homeland Brazil, claiming it was the right thing to do. The 25-year-olds choice to play for the world champions was confirmed on Tuesday and Costa is now expected to be named in Vicente del Bosques squad for two friendly fixtures in November next week. It was quite a difficult decision to choose between the country where you were born and the country that has given you everything, which is Spain, he said on Atleticos website. I looked at it, weighed it up and the correct thing is to play for Spain because here I have done everything, all that I have in my life and that I have been given has been in this country. I feel a special love for this country, here I feel very valued for what I do every day and I feel the love of the people. Costa had also been included in Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolaris preliminary squad for their two friendlies against Honduras and Chile next month. However, Scolari confirmed on Tuesday that Costa was no longer part of his plans and slammed the players decision to turn his back on the dream of millions. Costa had represented Brazil twice as recently as March in friendly games against Italy and Russia. However, as he hadnt played a competitive international he was still able to switch his allegiance to Spain. I want the people to understand that in no moment was I giving up on Brazil, he added. I dont see it like that. Simply that here I feel very valued and played my whole career. I have family in Brazil, it is where I was born and where, hopefully, I will live once I stop playing football. I hope that the people understand and respect that. The demand for Costas services has been drummed up by a fantastic start to the season in which he has scored 11 goals in 10 league games, three more than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. And he also made a huge impact on his Champions League debut last week with a double, including one sensational solo effort, as Atletico continued their 100 percent record in the competition with a 3-0 win at Austria Vienna.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 06:35:15 +0000
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