Mauro Alexandre de Silva Almeida (born 29 January 1982) is a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He started his career with top Portuguese side

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

, where he failed to make a first team appearance, before moving to Estrela Amadora where he stayed for two seasons. He then left to join

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

side

FC Zwolle PEC Zwolle is a Dutch football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2021–22 season. They have played in the Eredivisie for a total ...

in January 2004, where he played for a year before leaving to play for

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n top division club

Vihren Sandanski OFC Vihren ( bg, ОФК Вихрен) is a Bulgarian football club from the town of Sandanski, currently playing in the Third Amateur Football League (Bulgaria), South-West Third League. Sandanski's home ground is the Sandanski Stadium in Sandan ...

. He was released, but was spotted by

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...

shortly after, during a mid-season training trip to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He left Stanley at the end of the season. He signed for

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

at the end of August 2007, and made his debut against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

in the JP Trophy on 4 September. On 27 February 2008,

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 ...

announced the signing of Almeida after a short trial with the club. He left in June 2009 after a career-threatening injury. On 24 February 2010,

announced the signing of Almeida after a short trial with the club.

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* 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Viseu Portuguese men's footballers Accrington Stanley F.C. players Eerste Divisie players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players OFC Vihren Sandanski players C.R.D. Libolo players G.D. Sagrada Esperança players Progresso da Lunda Sul players Sligo Rovers F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Angola Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland FC Porto players PEC Zwolle players Men's association football defenders Girabola players League of Ireland players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Footballers from Viseu District {{Portugal-footy-defender-stub