From Brazil to Azerbaijan, via 'pleasure' of playing Luka Modric & Antoine Griezmann - Richard Almeida interview

A call from the Caucasus eight years ago took him from the familiarity of Portugal’s top flight, to a vastly different life in Azerbaijan at powerhouse Qarabag.

Fast forward to 2020 and Almeida has battled Wales superstar Gareth Bale, 2018 Ballon d’Or winner Luka Modric and Napoli’s record goal scorer Marek Hamsik in the colours of an adopted nation 12,000 kilometres from home. Plus, rung up nearly 80 appearances in Europe’s premier club competitions – taking on iconic France forward Antoine Griezmann, among many others, along the way.

“We know that Azerbaijan cannot have too much power to play against these players, the biggest players who play in the best clubs in the world,” the 30-year-old tells Sport360 in the well-stocked gym he now frequents at Bani Yas Stadium.

“But we try to do our best. It is not just Hamsik, but Bale, Modric, they are unbelievable players.

“As people, they are also amazing. That is why they developed their careers and play in the biggest clubs.

“For us, it is a pleasure to play against players like that. To see them on the pitch is different to watching them on television.

“You see their movement, how they pass – you learn too much from them.”

Almeida resided in Baku from July 2012 until this January’s switch to the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, minus a six-month spell at Kazakhstan’s Astana almost two years ago.

There were, naturally, some teething problems for the South American transplanted into Eurasia.

“They like to eat, too much, lamb,” he jokes. “In the beginning for me, I’d never eaten this meat.

“They have it in morning, lunch and dinner. All the time in my first year, I said I couldn’t eat it anymore.”

There was also the hurdle of convincing anxious parents about such an unanticipated destination.

Almeida states: “When I first received the offer to go there [Azerbaijan], my mother and father blocked me. They say: ‘you cannot.’

“This was because they’d had this war there, Azerbaijan with Armenia [the Nagorno-Karabakh War went on from 1988-94, though the nations are technically still in conflict]. They had this big conflict.

“But I said to my father and my mother: ‘let me go, just believe in me, support me, you are behind me. I want to try, I want to feel, this is like an experience for me in my life.’

“After that, they said: ‘okay, let’s go, we are together.'”

Culinary differences and regional instability aside, the bold decision to accept Qarabag’s offer would propel Almeida into the same sphere as Europe’s elite.

The Horsemen’s dominance of the domestic scene earned him six Azerbaijan Premier League crowns. This would gain regular entry into the Europa League and a berth in the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League’s group stage, plus ensure he’d be of interest to the national side once available.

A total of 22 caps have been collected since June 2017’s debut, a 1-0 defeat in Northern Ireland for World Cup 2018 qualifying.

From this period, one opponent stands out.

Modric broke the decade-long stranglehold from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on the game’s grandest individual prize in the wake of Croatia’s charge to World Cup 2018’s final.

Admiration gushes from Almeida when asked to recall his interactions with the humble Real Madrid metronome, during Euro 2020 qualifying.

He states: “He [Modric] is amazing – I cannot say another word.

“[His] Talent is too much and he’s a simple guy. He is very simple with all of us, not just Azerbaijan, but Hungary etc.

“If you want to ask him to change your shirt, he can give to you two or three.

“That is why he is the best.

“He is intelligent and he thinks before the ball comes to him. He thinks before this and he knows what he must do in that situation, in many situations.

“In the back, midfield or attack, he knows what he should do. It is amazing.”

Other highlights across 284 run-outs and 55 strikes for Qarabag include a penalty to open the scoring at White Hart Lane in an eventual 3-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur and a goalless draw with perennial Scottish Premiership winners Celtic in the Europa League. There was also a historic 1-1 Champions League group-stage stalemate with Griezmann’s Atletico Madrid.

“I am a fan of Barcelona and when I saw him [Griezmann] move to Barcelona I was so happy,” says Almeida.

“This is because he has good talent, good quality and a good person also. All of them are like that who play at the biggest level, they are simple guys.

“They do not bother about the money, whether they have these things or not. All of them are simple.

“It is like you enjoy them and they enjoy it with us.”

Almeida’s varied experience has gained extra pertinence in his new home.

Recent months have witnessed the landmark naturalisations of Brazilian attackers Caio Canedo and Fabio De Lima, plus Argentine centre forward Sebastian Tagliabue. All are now eligible to represent the UAE after lengthy service in the Arabian Gulf League.

An ailing Whites outfit, who stumbled at the start of World Cup 2022 qualifying and were eliminated in the group stage of the winter’s Gulf Cup, welcomes their presence.

When asked what advice he’d give the trio, Almeida replies: “They must work hard, they must do their best all the time; the training, the game.

“They must try. Because they speak English all of them, the language is not a problem.

“The most-important thing is inside the pitch, how they want to improve and do their best to improve the team.

“What they did in the clubs, they must do in the national team.”

A fresh adventure called Almeida this winter. His refined skills in knitting a midfield together were called upon by Bani Yas, the UAE top flight’s current ninth-placed side awarding him a short-term deal.

Early success in the league saw three opening victories registered, prior to recent set-backs against neighbours Al Wahda and pacesetters Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club. The presence of fellow Brazilian Luiz Antonio behind him in the engine room has been a further boost.

“It is very good and I am so happy to be here,” Almeida says. “From my team-mates, from the directors, the staff, the coach, they supported me and gave me too much confidence.

“That is how you develop, step-by-step. Bani Yas is a small club in the UAE, but I hope in two or three years they are high in the table.

“This is because they are a good team, with good players. We must develop, to help each other.

“In the football now, outside they are the best (bigger teams), they have good salaries. But you play inside the pitch.

“When you play, you do your best. When you have the courage to play, I think no-one can beat us.

“It depends just for us.”

An obvious highlight to date was Almeida’s nerveless penalty in the President’s Cup quarter-finals to eliminate holders Shabab Al Ahli.

Victory in the UAE’s most-prestigious tournament is still a long shot. In-form Al Dhafra await during Tuesday’s last-four tie at Al Nahyan Stadium, get past that and luminaries Sharjah or Al Ain await in the decider.

But if there is one thing that can be gleaned from Almeida’s extraordinary career, expect the unexpected.

He says: “For me, it was my first goal for Bani Yas. I felt very good, because this game is the most important.

“You want at the end of the league to play in the President’s Cup. Then you beat Shabab Al Ahli and after the game everyone was so happy.

“The atmosphere was so good and now you play a good club, Al Dhafra, in the semi-finals. Why not to think about passing Al Dhafra and to play in the final?”