Portugal Born in
Figueira da Foz,
Coimbra District, Almeida started playing football for hometown club
Naval 1º de Maio, before being signed by
Porto still as a junior. He made his
Primeira Liga debut in a 2–0 home win over
Benfica on 21 September 2003, playing three minutes. Unable to settle at first, however, he had loan spells with
União de Leiria (with which he had already played in the previous season, also on loan) and
Boavista. Almeida returned to Porto for
2005–06, having a relatively important role in a side that was crowned national champions. During
that campaign's
UEFA Champions League he scored a spectacular goal from a 35-metre
free kick against
Inter Milan at the
San Siro, albeit in a 2–1 loss.
Werder Bremen in 2006 Almeida served another loan stint in
2006–07, with a solid first year at the
Bundesliga's
Werder Bremen, where he rejoined former Porto teammate
Diego. He totalled ten goals in 41 appearances (in all competitions), including one in a 2–1 home loss against
Espanyol in the
semi-finals of the
UEFA Cup, his shot floating over the goalkeeper and into the net in an eventual 4–2 aggregate defeat; 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
€4 million. With the departure of
Miroslav Klose, who signed for
Bayern Munich, Almeida's chances of first-team action improved dramatically, and he started the
2007–08 season in scoring fashion, netting seven times in his first 12 league games, including two goals in a 4–1 victory over
defending champions VfB Stuttgart. He would finish the season with 16 goals in all competitions – 11 in the league, as his club finished second behind Bayern – 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 DFB-Pokal winners – his first Bremen honour. His cup tally included a
hat-trick against amateurs
Eintracht Nordhorn, in a 9–3 away rout. In the
Champions League he netted two more, being named the "Fans'
Player of the match" in the 2–2 draw away to
Anorthosis Famagusta. As the team were "demoted" to the
UEFA Cup, he contributed one goal in eight games as the team went all the way to
the final but, after receiving a
yellow card in the 3–2 defeat of
Hamburger SV in the semi-finals (3–3 aggregate win), he missed the decisive match against
Shakhtar Donetsk. Alternating starts with appearances
from the bench, Almeida once again scored in double digits in the
2009–10 campaign, netting seven goals in the domestic league for a total of 11, as Bremen finished third and qualified for the
Champions League play-off round, with the player
assisting Claudio Pizarro in the third goal of the clash against
Sampdoria (3–1 home win in the first leg, eventual 3–2 aggregate win). Almeida started
2010–11 netting six times in the first ten league games. On 28 November 2010 he took his total to nine, after scoring three in a home win against
FC St. Pauli (3–0) – in the dying minutes of the fixture, he was
sent off after
elbowing an opponent.
Beşiktaş in 2014 On Christmas Eve 2010, after scoring 11 goals in 21 official games for Bremen during the season, Almeida joined
Beşiktaş in the
Süper Lig, having agreed to a three-and-a-half-year contract for €2 million. On 11 May 2011, he converted his
penalty in
the shootout as the
Istanbul team
won the
Turkish Cup against
İstanbul Başakşehir (4–3, 2–2 after
extra time). During his time in
Istanbul, Almeida was part of a Portuguese contingent including manager
Carlos Carvalhal and five teammates including fellow internationals
Manuel Fernandes,
Simão Sabrosa and
Ricardo Quaresma.
Later career On 7 October 2014,
free agent Almeida signed for
Serie A newcomers
Cesena. However, he struggled at his new club, managing only seven starts and terminating his contract by mutual consent on 20 January 2015. A week later, he joined Russia's
Kuban Krasnodar. in March 2015 Almeida moved to
Anzhi Makhachkala who had just returned to the
Russian Premier League on 8 July 2015. After just six months, both parties parted ways by mutual consent. On 16 January 2016, Almeida returned to Germany and signed for
Hannover 96 until summer 2017, reuniting with former Werder Bremen boss
Thomas Schaaf in the process. He scored in his first appearance seven days later, but in a 2–1 home loss against
Darmstadt 98. In February, he received a retrospective three-match ban for an elbow on
FC Augsburg's
Dominik Kohr, as
the season ended with relegation. Almeida joined
AEK Athens from the
Super League Greece on 18 July 2016, on a two-year contract. He scored twice in the first 15 minutes of his debut, a 4–1 home win over
Xanthi on 11 September. On 26 April 2017, in the return leg of
the semi-finals of the
Greek Football Cup against
Olympiacos, Almeida played as an emergency
goalkeeper for the first time in his career, after
Giannis Anestis was sent off in the closing minutes of the game. His team eventually advanced to the final on
away goals, after a 2–2 aggregate draw. Almeida's contract was terminated by mutual consent on 30 August 2017. The following day he signed a one-year deal with
Hajduk Split from the
Croatian First Football League, with the option for a further season. Almeida returned to Portugal after an absence of 12 years in July 2018, at the age of 34. Citing family reasons, he agreed to a two-year contract at
Académica de Coimbra. He made his
LigaPro debut on 18 August, playing 36 minutes in a 1–0 home defeat against
Paços de Ferreira and eventually acting as a goalkeeper after
Peterson Peçanha was sent off. On 6 February 2020, Almeida announced his retirement. ==International career==