12 July 2007, by Sean Gillen

Hugo Almeida 06/07 season review

Hugo Almeida experienced a mixed year in German football at Werder Bremen, with a frustrating first half of the season followed by increasingly impressive performances in the closing months of the campaign.

The former Porto man made a sensational start to life in the Bundesliga, scoring on his debut in a 4-2 win at Hannover on the opening day, and following that up with a goal in a 2-1 win over Leverkusen the following week.

However, Almeida then went fifteen appearances – most of which were as substitute – without a goal as the team headed into the winter break in second place behind leaders Schalke. In Europe, Bremen were edged out of the Champions League by Barcelona, but secured a place in the Uefa Cup with a third place finish in the group.

Just as had been the case in the first half of the season, Almeida returned from the six-week German winter break in fine form, coming off the bench to score in both of the team’s first games of the new year.

While Almeida continued to be largely restricted to substitute appearances in the league, he was regularly selected in the line-up for the Uefa Cup, repaying manager Thomas Schaaf’s faith with four goals in eight games as Bremen reached the semi-finals before being knocked out by Espanyol.

Bremen missed out on the Bundesliga title, finishing third behind Schalke and surprise champions Stuttgart, but Almeida’s impressive haul of 7 goals in 23 appearances in the second half of the season was enough to earn him a four-year contract with the club, who expect the young forward to develop into a reliable form of goals in the near future.

                           Season stats - Hugo Almeida

                        Substitute appearances in brackets