Douglas Costa

Douglas Costa da Souza is an attacking midfielder for Shakhtar Donetsk. He was born on 14 September 1990 in Sapucaia do Sul, Brazil.

Douglas began his career in 2001 at the academy of Novo Hamburgo. One year later the talented footballer moved to Brazilian giants Grêmio. In 2008, after 6 years of playing for Grêmio youth teams, Costa signed for the club on his first professional deal. The deal was signed until the summer of 2013. In the debut match for Tricolor the midfielder scored his first goal against Botafogo. In addition, in 2008, Grêmio finished as runners-up of the Brazilian Championship. Over the next two years the footballer played 28 matches and scored 2 goals for Grêmio.

In January 2010 he moved to Shakhtar Donetsk. In his debut 2010/11 season with the Miners Douglas established himself as a master of free kicks. In that same season, Douglas Costa became Ukrainian Champion. The next season turned out to be even better for the midfielder, as he reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League, where the Miners lost to Barcelona. Nevertheless, Costa and his Shakhtar teammates became the Ukrainian champions and winners of the Ukrainian Cup in that same year. In the 2011/12 season the Miners weren’t so successful in the Champions League, finishing last in their group and missing the playoffs. However, Douglas helped Shakhtar to repeat its success at the national level. The Donetsk club again won the Ukrainian Premier League, Ukrainian Cup and Super Cup.

Douglas Costa made 81 appearances and scored 17 goals for the Miners, as of 11 November 2012. The midfielder played for the youth team of Brazil. In 2009 he won South American Youth Championship and scored 3 goals in the tournament. In the same year, the player went to FIFA U-20 World Cup, where Brazil finished as runners-up. In August 2010 Douglas Costa was called up to train with the national team of Brazil, but never actually debuted for it.