Thnx for the share :)

Good read, never hurts to have an additional perspective or insight.

Although I can't say my overall opinion of Costa has changed.

It was not mean to change the opinion of yours . Simply to share info and maybe in a way to highlight unjustified prejudice towards Costa . People label him as inhuman and animal based on his football antics which to me still by far not anyway too different to what other players do but don't get same attention from media .

I don't hate a single player , even Materazi i no longer hate whom i hated so much , because as i grow older I pay attention more to two sides of the coin .

Though there is no such thing as a bad guy, only different perspectives, I still can't bring myself to look at the other side of Costa. His attitude, at least for me, does not warrant the unbiased consideration. Regardless of the way he was brought up or the stuff he had to endure, nothing justifies his actions on the pitch.

When I was 7 years old, war broke out and many friends and relatives were killed. Neighbors or people we considered as friends started shooting at us, wanting to kill us. We moved to a different Country where I had to learn to a new language, new way of living, new everything.

At 11 years old, my mother passed and I was left to raise myself due to my alcoholic, physically as well as mentally and emotionally abusive father.

Just when I found some stability in my life at 15, we again moved to a different Country. New language, and a completely new way of life, again.

To say that I had a difficult life would be an understatement as these are only bullet points. There was a lot more to this but I have never ever blamed my life experiences for any poor decision I've made. I never sought refuge of my difficult past for any wrongs I've done.

All these things made me a better and a stronger person. It allowed me to have a lot more empathy than a regular person, and understand struggle better than most people.

How you deal with things at the end of the day will depend on your character and who you are, as well as your experiences, of course. However, most of it is dependent on your character.

It is Costa's character that he acts the way he does on the pitch, and if you ask me - he would have acted that way even if he was brought up in the best possible way.

This sympathy thread towards Costa does absolutely nothing for me. I consider him as I always have, a despicable human being.

^ I hope you at least like Pepe, Ramos, Ronaldo And almost every RM player. They are a real human beings..

don't read most articles but this one i did. +1

Of course, he can be a wonderful lad off the field that is no doubt. Actually he can be a direct, easy and funny guy, those tough guy are normally quite active off the field and you dont have to guess much what he is thinking, which make it easy :D:D:D.

Good read mate +1!

@Alex: Don't be ridiculous. Pepe, I can see why you mentioned him.

But why would I not like Ronaldo and Ramos?

As far as Pepe is concerned, he had one incident where he completely lost it because the guy kept diving. One incident. He's human after all. These last two years though, he has been exemplary. And his record shows tha, went on a very very long stretch without getting even a yellow. Hopefully I don't need to stress how difficult that is to do for a CB.

Besides, what he did, I can respect a whole lot more than say Dani Alves for what he did against Real. Remember when he faked an injury, asked to be stretchered off the field to force a red card. Once he saw that it was given, he jumped off the stretcher and continued to play.

That kind of stuff is what Diego does in most games and the reason why I have such a low opinion of him.

@Amerr They are amongst all the disgusting players on a football pitch. But since you are a RM fan you will never see it.

Maybe you are right that he is a bit calm lately but since you watched all RM matches especially against Atletico Madrid and Barcelona you would know what I'm talking about. With FR members logic most of your players should have been banned from football.

@Marcus D. Costa reminds me of Kojiro Hyuga a lot.

@alex pepe is not that dirty anymore. ronaldo is arrogant but he's not THAT bad. ramos is dirty but he doesn't start stupid fights or do anything like diego costa does. when mourinho was at real madrid the clasicos were always very heated. when he left and went to chelsea the clasicos were much more peaceful. but mourinho needed players that were dirty and he could encourage them to do what he encouraged pepe and ramos to do. so he spent his first year thinking who would be the perfect player to do that with. then he thought of diego costa...

ok i made up all that last part.

Sorry Amer for the last time, i though you are from the people who live in Disneyland, you experienced our world sooner than anyone then... You life experience is complicated as hell im impressed that you followed or seem to be following a good trajectory in life. All vredit goes to you.

But i cant agree with you about people not having a softer character, your character on the field can be the extreme opposite of your caracter, here is an example Lloris is the calmest keeper or player i saw on my life off pitch, on the field he is screaming because full of testosteronne, your atitude changes.

Costa, Pepe, Roy keane, Suarez, Gattuso, Materrazzi.... Should be judged as players from what they do on the pitch, as human beings from what they do off the pitch.

"i made up all that last part" +1 LOL..

@lio Lol Pepe was a c*nt way before Mourinho managed RM.

But he was worse with mourinho.

@Amer: huge respect for you mate!

@tiki, Diego Costa, Pepe, Keane, and Suarez could be kittens all of the pitch and to be honest I wouldn't care. Because I look at them as futbol players, and what they do off the pitch is their business, but as a fan, what they do on the pitch is mine and every other fan's as well.

Suarez can be a diving, cheating, biting asshat on the pitch and that's why I dislike him. If he is a model citizen in everything else, I don't care, because it doesn't reflect in his play.

Costa is a fight-seeking, dirty player, who hits people more often than he scored goals - with the endorsement of his manager. I don't care if he gives money to his hometown, because as a fan, that's not what I'm grading him on.

Pepe was quite possibly the dirtiest player I've ever seen, (credit to him for cleaning it up though) and during the time when he was being a more violent version of Costa, I utterly despised him, and still to his day will have a hard time ever wishing for him to do well. If he's great off the pitch, good for him, I don't care.

Keane was an animal on the pitch, and although he left United before I began watching this sport, I'm well aware of his many actions. He bossed the midfield quite well and hard tackles were a part of that, but you will never see me endorse his fight-seeking or after-the-play nonsense. Like the others, he could be great off the field, but I don't care, because what matters to me as a fan is on the field.

I know that seems harsh, and I am a shallow ****up for not caring about the attitude of players off the pitch, but seriously, that's opinion.

So in the end I guess I agree with you - but only to a point. We should judge players and players, and humans as humans. But I don't think anyone can say Costa/Suarez/Keane/Pepe are as good PEOPLE as say, the white knights of this generation, Mata, Gerrard, Drogba, or any other player with a reputation of playing cleanly. Because if they were, they wouldn't be as big cheaters and violent offenders on the pitch.

Very well said SunFlash! Of course it's not black and white but Im sure a lot of people share similar view... at the end of the day, they wouldn't care what we think about them off the field either cuz they have their own lives and friends there. But they should at least pay attention abit what they do on the field. Probably that's why Pepe has changed a lot (I think we should all thanks Carlo for it)