Rui Miguel Garcia Lopes de Almeida (born 29 September 1969) is a Portuguese professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

. After working as an assistant to

Jesualdo Ferreira Manuel Jesualdo Ferreira (born 24 May 1946) is a Portuguese Manager (association football), football manager who last managed Zamalek SC, Zamalek in the Egyptian Premier League. In a managerial career of over forty years, he was in charge of all ...

, he worked mainly in France, with

Bastia Bastia ( , , , ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest popu ...

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

and four clubs in

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

, as well as a brief spell in his country's

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

with

Gil Vicente Gil Vicente (; c. 1465c. 1536), called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus," often refe ...

. Recently, Rui Almeida started a new challenge in Moroccan club

Difaâ Hassani El Jadidi Difaâ Hassani El Jadidi () is a Moroccan football (soccer), football club based in El Jadida. They are currently playing in the Botola 2. Home stadium DHJ play their home games at the Stade El Abdi. Crest Image:DifaaJ.png, Former logo Image:D ...

Managerial career

Almeida spent his early managerial career as an assistant at

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the civil parish of Cascais e Estoril of the Portuguese Municipality of Cascais, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a popular tourist destination, with hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numero ...

and Trofense. His first stint as a professional manager was with the Syria under-23 team in an attempt for qualification to the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. A polyglot (speaking Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, English and French), he left Syria to become assistant manager to

at Panathinaikos, Sporting,

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

and

Zamalek Zamalek ( , ''al zamalek'') is a ''qism'' (ward) within the West District (''hayy gharb'') in the Western Area of Cairo, Egypt. It is an affluent district on a man-made island which is geologically a part of the west bank of the Nile River, wit ...

before managing again with

Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. ...

in June 2015. He was dismissed in December 2016 when the club was in 16th, and had been eliminated from the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

by fifth-tier

Blagnac Blagnac (; ) is a Communes of France, commune of the greater Toulouse area in the Haute-Garonne Departments of France, department in southwestern France. The city hosts the aviation museum Aeroscopia. It is the third-largest suburb of the city o ...

. Almeida then joined

in February 2017, on a two-and-a-half-year contract; the

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

n team was five points within the relegation zone. He left in June, as the team faced a financial crisis after their descent. On 30 May 2018, Almeida was announced as the manager of

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

in Ligue 2, on a two-year deal. He led the team to third, one point off promotion, in his only season and was then linked to English club

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

, though no official approach was ever made. In July 2019, Almeida was appointed manager of

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

, newly relegated to Ligue 2. He signed a two-year deal with the option of a third, and compensation was paid for his remaining year contracted to Troyes. After a poor start to the season, he was removed from his duties on 28 September. Almeida was given his first outright job in his own country at the end of May 2020, when he was chosen to succeed Vítor Oliveira at

in the

. He lost his job on 10 November, having won once in seven games and lost the last four. On 4 September 2022, Almeida returned to the French second tier, taking over at

Niort Niort (; Poitevin: ''Niàu''; ; ) is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department, western France. It is the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres. The population of Niort is 58,707 (2017) and more than 177,000 people live in the urban area. Geography T ...

ahead of the seventh game of the season, on a one-year contract with a second as an option. He left the bottom-placed team by mutual accord the following 1 February after recording four wins, five draws and nine defeats, including his last three games. On 14 October 2023, Almeida was appointed manager of Algerian club

JS Kabylie Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (Kabyle grammar, Kabyle: Ilemẓiyen inaddalen n leqvayel; Berber languages, Tamazight: ⵉⵍⵎⵣⵢⵏ ⵉⵏⴰⴷⴰⵍⵏ ⵏ ⵍⵇⵠⴰⵢⵍ; ), known as JS Kabylie or simply JSK, is an Algerian profession ...

. He lost his job on 25 January 2024. On 15 July 2024, Almeida was appointed as manager of

Saudi First Division League The Saudi First Division League (), currently known as the Yelo League for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of professional football in Saudi Arabia. It ranks below the Saudi Pro League and above the Saudi Second Division League in the ...

club

Al-Batin Bāṭin or baten () literally means "inner", "inward", "hidden", etc. The Quran, for instance, has a hidden meaning in contrast to its exterior or apparent meaning, the zahir (zaher). Sufis believe that every individual has a batin in the worl ...

. On 16 October 2024, Al-Batin announced the departure of Almeida from the club. On 25 January 2025, Rui Almeida signed with Moroccan club

which competes in

Botola Pro The Botola Pro (), officially known as the Botola Pro Inwi for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Morocco and the top tier of the Moroccan football league system. Organized by the Ligue Nationale de Football Pro ...

. https://www.instagram.com/share/_uDHn4X2Q

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Almeida, Rui 1969 births Living people Sportspeople from Lisbon Portuguese football managers Portuguese expatriate football managers Ligue 1 managers Ligue 2 managers Saudi First Division League managers Red Star FC managers SC Bastia managers ES Troyes AC managers Stade Malherbe Caen managers Chamois Niortais FC managers Primeira Liga managers Gil Vicente F.C. managers Al Batin FC managers Portuguese expatriates in France Portuguese expatriates in Egypt Portuguese expatriates in Greece Portuguese expatriates in Syria Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Egypt Expatriate football managers in France Expatriate football managers in Greece Expatriate football managers in Syria Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia