Hugo Almeida
Personal information
Full name	Hugo Miguel Pereira Almeida
Date of birth	23 May 1984 (1984-05-23) (age 25)
Place of birth	Figueira da Foz, Portugal
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Centre forward
Club information
Current club	Werder Bremen
Number	23
Youth career
	Naval 1º Maio FC Porto
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2002 2003 2003–2007 2004 2005 2006–2007 2007–	Porto B → União Leiria (loan) FC Porto → União Leiria (loan) → Boavista (loan) → Werder Bremen (loan) Werder Bremen	013 0(3) 034 0(4) 015 0(2) 014 0(3) 028 0(5) 055 (22)
National team2
2004–	Portugal	022 0(6)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 November 2009. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 12 August 2009. * Appearances (Goals)

Hugo Miguel Pereira de Almeida (born 23 May 1984 in Figueira da Foz) is a Portuguese footballer who currently plays for SV Werder Bremen in the German League, as a centre forward.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Portugal

Almeida started playing football for hometown club Associação Naval 1º de Maio, before being spotted by F.C. Porto. He made his first division debut in a 2–0 home win over S.L. Benfica, on September 21, 2003, playing three minutes. However, unable to settle at first, he had loan spells with União de Leiria (with which he had already played in the previous season, also on loan) and Boavista FC.

Almeida returned to Porto in 2005–06, being a relatively important part on a side that was crowned national champions. During that season's UEFA Champions League, he also scored a spectacular goal from a 35-metre free-kick against Internazionale Milan at the San Siro, albeit in a 1–2 loss.

[edit] Werder Bremen

Almeida served another loan stint in 2006–07, with a solid debut season at Bundesliga's SV Werder Bremen,^[1] totaling 10 goals in 41 appearances (all competitions). After seeing his chances at Porto definitely cut down with the arrival of strikers Edgar and Ernesto Farías in August 2007, he decided to accept Bremen's offer for a permanent switch, penning a four-year deal worth €4m.^[2] With the departure of Miroslav Klose, who signed for FC Bayern Munich,^[3] Almeida's chances of first-team action improved dramatically, and he started 2007–08 in scoring fashion, netting seven times in his first 12 league games. He would finish the season with 16 goals in all competitions, only surpassed in the team by Diego's 17.

In 2008–09, another solid season: Almeida scored nine goals in the league, adding four in just five matches for the eventual cup winners. In the Champions League, he netted two more, being named the "Fans' Man of the Match" in the 2–2 away draw against Anorthosis Famagusta.^[4]

[edit] International career

Almeida played at every level in international competitions, from the under-15 to the main Portuguese national team. He made his full debut in a friendly match against England on 18 February 2004, in a 1–1 tie,^[5] and was also part of the Portuguese team that won the 2003 Toulon Tournament, also appearing at the 2004 and 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship finals.^[6]

Almeida was called for Portugal's final three Euro 2008 qualifiers, starting against Azerbaijan and scoring his first international goal. He also scored in the follow-up, a 1–0 win over Armenia.^[7] These goals proved vital, as Portugal clinched a tournament spot.

In Carlos Queiroz's second stint as national side coach, Almeida netted in a 4–0 away on 6 September 2008 against Malta in the 2010 World Cup qualifier. His importance diminished in late 2009, after the naturalization of Sporting Clube de Portugal's Liédson.

Hugo Almeida: International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	13 October 2007	Tofik Bakhramov Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan	0-2	0-2	Euro 2008 qualifying
2	17 November 2007	Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria, Portugal	Armenia	1-0	1-0	Euro 2008 qualifying
3	6 September 2008	Ta'Qali Stadium, Ta'Qali, Malta	Malta	0-2	0-4	2010 World Cup qualifying
4	6 June 2009	Qemal Stafa stadium, Tirana, Albania	Albania	0-1	1-2	2010 World Cup qualifying
5	12 August 2009	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein	0-1	0-3	Friendly
6	12 August 2009	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein	0-3	0-3	Friendly

[edit] Club statistics

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Stats and profile at Zerozero
• PortuGOAL profile
• Bundesliga stats at Fussballdaten (German)
• NationalFootballTeams data

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hugo Almeida

v • d • e Portugal squad – 2004 Summer Olympics 1 Moreira • 2 M. Sérgio • 3 R. Meireles • 4 Bruno Alves • 5 Costa • 6 Meira • 7 C. Ronaldo • 8 Viana • 9 H. Almeida • 10 C. Martins • 11 Ribeiro • 12 Frechaut • 13 Boa Morte • 14 Bosingwa • 15 Lourenço • 16 João Paulo • 17 Danny • 18 Bruno Vale • Coach: Romão

v • d • e Portugal squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Ricardo • 2 Ferreira • 3 Bruno Alves • 4 Bosingwa • 5 Meira • 6 R. Meireles • 7 Ronaldo • 8 Petit • 9 H. Almeida • 10 J. Moutinho • 11 Simão • 12 Nuno • 13 Miguel • 14 Ribeiro • 15 Pepe • 16 R. Carvalho • 17 Quaresma • 18 M. Veloso • 19 Nani • 20 Deco • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Patrício • 23 H. Postiga • Coach: Scolari