Murilo Ribeiro de Almeida (born January 21, 1989) simply known as Murilo de Almeida, is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. He last played as a striker for Luverdense Esporte in the

Campeonato Mato-Grossense Campeonato Mato-Grossense is the football league of the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil. It is organized by the Mato Grosso State Football Federation. Format First Division 2006 First stage: *The teams are divided in two groups of six teams. *Dou ...

. He is a former striker of the

Timor-Leste national football team The Timor-Leste national football team is the national team of East Timor () and is controlled by the Federação de Futebol de Timor-Leste. They joined FIFA on 12 September 2005. Timor-Leste's international debut was in the preliminary round ...

, and is the country's leading goal scorer.

Personal life

Murilo was born at Presidente Prudente,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and naturalized East Timorese by fellow Brazilian Antônio Carlos Vieira, who was then the coach of Timor-Leste.

Club career

Earlier career

Murilo de Almeida began his professional club career at

Esporte Clube Bahia Esporte Clube Bahia (), known familiarly as Bahia, is a Brazilian professional football club, based in Salvador, capital city of the Brazilian state of Bahia. They play in the Campeonato Baiano, Bahia's state league, and the Campeonato Bras ...

in Brazil but has not appeared in a single league match.

Persiraja

In 2011, he signed for

Persiraja Banda Aceh Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Kuta Raja, commonly known as Persiraja, is an Indonesian football club based in Banda Aceh, Aceh. They currently compete in the Liga 2. They play their home matches either at Harapan Bangsa Stadium or H. Dimur ...

. Murilo made his debut for

in a match versus

Persijap Jepara Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Jepara, also known as Persijap is an Indonesian football club based in Jepara, Central Java. After winning 2019 Liga 3, they compete in the Liga 2. Their nickname is ''Laskar Kalinyamat'' (Kalinyamat Warriors) and ' ...

. He score at his opening match debut; In 69 minutes, Murilo make a surprised goal. Persiraja finished 2-1 with Persijap. Murilo de Almeida was sent off in the 16th minute, after a protest with the referee because of his excessive diving at the goal post in Persija IPL match. Referee reaction was pulling out two yellow cards.

Busaiteen

Between 2012 and 2013, he signed with and played for

Busaiteen Club Busaiteen ( ar, البسيتين) is a Bahraini multi-sports club based in Busaiteen. The club competes in football, volleyball, table tennis and track and field. Achievements *Bahraini Premier League : Champions (1): 2012–13 Bahrain First ...

in the

Bahraini Premier League The Bahraini Premier League is the main football competition in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Currently known as the Nasser bin Hamad Premier League, the first season was held in 1957. The winners of the domestic championship qualify for the AFC Cup ...

. After his departure, in the 2013 edition of

was won by Busaiteen.

Magwe

In 2013, he moved to

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

and played for Magwe FC and scored 4 goals in 10 league matches.

Al-Mesaimeer and Ettifaq

During the 2013-14 Qatari Second Division, he represented Al-Mesaimeer SC and later moved to Saudi giants

Al-Ettifaq FC Al Ettifaq Football Club ( ar, نادي الاتفاق لكرة القدم, nādī al-ittifāq likura al-qadami) is a professional football club in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. It was established by the merger of three Damman clubs in 1944. Al Ettifa ...

in 2014. With Ettifaq, he played only 6 games in the

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

Japanese leagues and Hongkong

In 2015, he signed with

J1 League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...

outfit

Oita Trinita is a Japanese football club currently playing in J2 League, having been relegated after the 2021 season after a three-year stint in J1 League. The club's home town is Ōita, Ōita, Ōita city, but the club draws support from Beppu, Ōita, Beppu, ...

and later played for AC Nagano Parceiro in the

J3 League or simply J3 is the third division of . It was established in 2013 as the third-tier professional association football league in Japan. The third-tier nationwide league is a relatively recent development in Japanese football with a first attempt ...

on loan from Oita. Murilo later moved to

South China AA South China Athletic Association (known simply as South China, SCAA, ) is a Hong Kong professional football club that competes in the Hong Kong First Division, the second-tier league in Hong Kong football league system. The club is historic ...

in the

Hong Kong Premier League The Hong Kong Premier League () is a Hong Kong professional football league organised by the Hong Kong Football Association. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inaugural seaso ...

and also appeared with the club in

2015 AFC Cup Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...

Later career

Murilo came back to his previous club

in the

and stayed there until 2016. He later moved to

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

and joined

Al Tadhamon SC Al Tadhamon SC, or Al Tadamon is a Kuwaiti professional association football, football club based in Al Farwaniyah Governorate, Al Farwaniya. Honours *Kuwaiti Division One **Champions (4): 1966–67, 1973–74, 1985–86, 2020–21 Current sq ...

Chennai City

In 2017, he signed with

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

club

Chennai City FC Chennai City Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, that last competed in the I-League, then one of the top flights of Indian football league system, and Chennai Football League. Established in ...

on a two-year deal. He appeared in 8 I-League matches and scored a single goal against

Churchill Brothers SC Churchill Brothers FC Goa, or simply known as Churchill Brothers, is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the I-League, alongside Goa Professional League. Founded in 1988 in Margao, the club usually parti ...

. He was also impressive in his team’s 2-1 victory over

Mohun Bagan AC Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

in January.

International career

Murilo made his international debut for

Timor-Leste national under-23 football team The Timor-Leste national Under-23 football team (also known as Timor-Leste U-23 or Seleção U-23) represents the Timor-Leste in international football competitions in the Olympic Games, Asian Games, Southeast Asian Games and any other under-23 ...

in the

2011 SEA Games The 2011 Southeast Asian Games, ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia Tenggara 2011) officially known as the 26th Southeast Asian Games, or the 26th SEA Games, and commonly known as Jakarta-Palembang 2011, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held from ...

, where the first match was against Brunei U23. Murilo is known for his quick and fast attack. Murilo scored 3 goals during the 2011 SEA Games. Recently, Murilo received a red card for bad conduct during the third match which was against Vietnam U23. He scored 3 goals in 4 matches for the Timor-Leste U23 between 2011 and 2013. Murilo made his senior international debut for

on 5 October 2012, against Cambodia, where he struck twice late in the first half against

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

at the Youth Training Centre to set Timor Leste on the way to their first-ever win in the competition as he glanced home a cross by Alan and then finished off a counter-attack on the stroke of half-time. Timor-Leste won their first international match against Cambodia in which they scored 5–1. He made his hat-trick against

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

in the

2014 AFF Suzuki Cup The 2014 AFF Championship, sponsored by Suzuki and officially known as the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup, was the 10th edition of the AFF Championship, an international association football competition consisting of national teams of member nations of th ...

group stages and honoured as the ''"Southeast Asia Player of the Week"'' by Goal.com and Goal Indonesia's CEO Eric Noveanto said that, ''"The Brazilian-born striker was an important figure for Timor Leste in AFF Suzuki Cup 2014 qualification round on Sunday as he successfully netted a hat-trick to clinch a 4–2 thrilling victory over Brunei at New National Stadium Laos."'' He appeared in a total of 8 matches for the ''O Sol Nascente'' between 2012 and 2015 and scored 6 goals.

Career statistics

International goals

:''Scores and results list Timor-Leste's goal tally first.''

References

External links

Personal life

Club career

Earlier career

Persiraja

Busaiteen

Magwe

Al-Mesaimeer and Ettifaq

Japanese leagues and Hongkong

Later career

Chennai City

International career

Career statistics

International goals

See also

References

External links