David Da Costa: From Ligue 1 to Portland Timbers centerpiece | OneFootball

By Jon Arnold

David Da Costa’s teammates advised him to aim for the near post. He had other ideas.

It was his first MLS start. His first start with any professional club other than RC Lens, in fact. But he had hit a dead ball more than enough times to see he might be able to cause a problem for Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver.

As Stuver watched the near post where Da Costa’s Portland Timbers teammates were descending, Da Costa sent a floating ball toward the back post and in for his first MLS goal, giving his new team a 1-0 win as full-time approached.

"I'd asked the other guys where I should put the ball, and they told me to go first post," Da Costa recalled to MLSsoccer.com. "I wanted to go for the second because the goalkeeper couldn’t come out. It’s a tough area. Then, it’s a goal."

It’s not quite that easy, but whether you want to simplify or complicate the process, it ended with Da Costa lifting his first slab of lumber in front of the Timbers Army in the first Timbers win he contributed to.

High expectations

This Sunday, Da Costa will again be in front of the Providence Park crowd, looking to make more magic as defending MLS Cup champions LA Galaxy visit the Rose City (4:45 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+ | FOX, FOX Deportes).

Those fans are among the loudest and most passionate in MLS, but with that fervor comes expectations. Da Costa arrives from Ligue 1 at age 24, leaving Europe in the type of move other MLS clubs may look to emulate in future years – luring a rising talent away from a top-five league and making him the centerpiece of the club’s attack. He fills a need created when the Timbers traded Evander, who scored 15 goals and had 19 assists last season, to FC Cincinnati for $12 million.

So, the new No. 10 has big shoes to fill. But one of the reasons Da Costa felt ready to leave Lens is that Timbers fans – who he learned about when he punched the team’s name into Instagram after learning Portland could be a potential destination – have the same outlook the supporters at his home club did.

The expectations are "something that motivates me," he said. "It’s a special thing for a soccer player. I don’t feel a lot of pressure. I feel more strongly that people like seeing me play like this, and I want to give them more."

Timbers general manager Ned Grabavoy said the club is already working to ensure Da Costa feels well-equipped to live up to those high hopes.

"We’ve got to give him and all the players the support he needs, make sure he settles and becomes more and more comfortable on the field and off the field in Portland," Grabavoy said. "Really, for us, that’s going to put him in a position where he can play at his highest level.

"We spent enough time and had enough conversations that [we knew] it was the player’s want to have a new opportunity. He was open to MLS and to Portland early and immediately. As those conversations grew, we felt more comfortable that the player saw it as an opportunity he definitely wanted to take."

Perfect timing

Joining the Timbers is the first time Da Costa has played for a club outside France, but it’s not the first time he’s made a daunting move. Born in Portugal to immigrants from Cape Verde, Da Costa, his mother and his siblings went to join his father in France, where he had been working when David was just a boy.

"It was harder for my older siblings because they were more accustomed to it, had friends and everything. The toughest part was losing my friends, but at age nine it was all fast," he said. "I learned French in four months and now speak more French than Portuguese!"

Soccer helped ease the transition, and after stints with a couple of local clubs, he joined the RC Lens residential academy in 2012. Soon, he was called "The Little Prince of La Gaillette," the club’s youth facility. He made his professional debut in 2020 and had a dream season in 2021-22 – twice being named the league’s young player of the month as Lens finished seventh in Ligue 1.

He was critical for the club the next year as well, but a managerial switch and other changes led to less consistency in his playing time. That opened a door Grabavoy was happy to walk through at just the right time.

"Six months earlier, it’s probably not realistic for us and if we’re six months too late the player is potentially gone somewhere else as well," Grabavoy said. "Meeting the player, getting a chance to be around him, seeing the club he grew up in and the level he was coming from, we felt like it was a great opportunity and great timing more than anything.

"He has a high level of quality and potential. [We can] put more on his shoulders in terms of the role, and ultimately, as he finds that consistency and the enjoyment and passion for playing the game here in MLS, he’s only going to continue to further improve and showcase that potential."

That’s exactly what Da Costa is working toward as he gets to know his teammate better in each training session, learning from both great moments, like the goal against Austin, and the setbacks, like last weekend’s 2-0 loss at Nashville SC.

He's not only still getting to know the teammates he’s working with now, but also eagerly looking forward to combining with some of the Timbers’ injured attackers who were part of last season’s campaign. As time passes, he hopes, Portland will feel more and more like the home he left in Lens.

"I’m really happy to be here. I’m enjoying the best of the city. It’s a really, really pretty city. At the start, I didn’t like things as much because it was very cold, but the weather is getting better!" he said.

"I want to just keep being the person I am. I’m simple. Humble. I want to keep playing my soccer. After that, everything will go right."