Hugo Almeida

Hugo Miguel Pereira de Almeida (born 23 May 1984) is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Beşiktaş J.K. in Turkey, as a centre forward.

After failing to establish himself at F.C. Porto, being loaned various times during his contract, he made a name for himself in Germany with Werder Bremen, where he would remain four seasons, reaching one UEFA Cup final and scoring more than 50 official goals.

Making his debut for the Portuguese national team in 2004, aged 20, Almeida appeared at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup.

Club career

Portugal

Born in Figueira da Foz, Almeida started playing football for hometown club Associação Naval 1º de Maio, before being signed by F.C. Porto. He made his first division debut in a 2–0 home win over S.L. Benfica, on 21 September 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, having a relatively important role in a side that was crowned national champions. During that season's UEFA Champions League, he scored a spectacular goal from a 35-metre free-kick against...
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