Anybody wonder why Diego Costa targeted Laurent Koscielny and then Gabriel Paulista? It was calculated to get a rise out of the two hotheads in the Arsenal side. Except Koscielny, now a battle scarred veteran of a number of red cards earlier in his career did not take the bait although he was literally mugged by the Chelsea striker. Enter Gabriel who in his fledgling league career has already made a mark as a defender with a bite. He was excellent bulldozing Eden Hazard off the ball with some extra mustard at the end. That edge got him into trouble as he steamed in to confront Costa seeing his compatriot getting manhandled. There is personal history there.
It did not end well. Costa sized up Gabriel’s temperament and found he could play bossa nova on him. Shockingly, Mike Dean and his assistants allowed the farce to continue. Even more shockingly, it appeared they had already prejudged the outcome. Costa came off spotless despite multiple incidents of assault and battery.
Costa reminds one of Gabriel Garcia Bernal’s character in the Chilean movie No. An advertising executive tasked by the opposition to defeating Augusto Pinochet in the referendum, he has no actual skin in the game; even as his country is going down in flames. There is no passion for politics, the campaign is simply selling a better future without Pinochet as one would certain soaps, tobacco, or shaving gels sold as chick magnets for pimply faced douchebags. There is no emotional attachment associated with the outcome. With such extreme levels of dissociation, one can continue to operate without any psychic damage inflicted on mind and soul.
At this point it appears to hardly matter whether Costa scores goals or not, he’s forever linked to Chelsea minds as a winner. He was given a standing ovation at Stamford Bridge walking slowly to the sidelines for coming away with Gabriel’s scalp in his pocket. This despite a poor performance where he couldn’t hold onto the ball or come within flailing arm distance of the goal. In political terms, not unlike what we see here with Donald Trump, whose pyromaniac rhetoric against establishment candidates and immigrants is seen as winning messages to his deluded followers even as he fails to explain how his bombast would make “America great again”. Again, like Costa, its great theatre, no one cares about what is said or done, it is who it is said or done to that makes all the difference. Watching them go down in flames is pleasurable even as it damages the body politic or football.
Even Costa’s naturalization to Spanish citizenship smacks of opportunism. Realizing he would always play second fiddle to a genuine talent like Neymar Junior, he decided to take up Spanish citizenship at an opportune time with the Rojos facing a drought in attacking options with both David Villa and thereafter Fernando Torres entering the twilight of their careers despite many attempts at rehabilitation. By that time Costa had made a name at Atletico Madrid with his scoring exploits. The route to national representation coupled with financial remuneration would prove irresistible. Spain came knocking and Vicente Del Bosque issued a call up to the 2014 World Cup. Fortunately for him nursing some questionable hamstrings, Spain’s World Cup adventure nosedived warp speed to farcical oblivion. He himself did very little of note booed roundly every time he touched the ball. By that time, Chelsea had already swooped him up and he was ready to start.
Naturally, Costa’s conflagration has not gone down well in Brazil. It involved a Brazilian getting sent off. This is what Globoesporte had to say:
Diego Costa was once again the face of Chelsea – not for football. The Brazilian-born Spanish caused the expulsion of Gabriel Paulista at the end of the first half after assaulting Koscielny and, by luck and incompetence of referee Mike Dean, managed to escape a red card.