Born in Luanda, Portuguese Angola, Plácido made his professional and Primeira Liga debut aged 17, with lowly Amora FC.
and G.D. Chaves (with eight goals, he helped the latter to qualify for the UEFA Cup for the only time in its history) the 23-year-old signed for FC Porto, but failed to adjust grossly.
[2] Plácido moved to the French Ligue 1 with Racing Club de France Football in summer 1988, but he failed to establish himself, mainly due to a serious injury.
[2] After one more year in Portugal, at S.C. Salgueiros – where, in the 1991–92 UEFA Cup, he scored the only goal in the first leg of the first round against Zinedine Zidane's AS Cannes, but missed his attempt in the second in a penalty shootout loss – Plácido returned to France, continuing to play until the age of 37 in the country's second, third and fourth tiers in representation of US Créteil-Lusitanos, US Lusitanos and Saint-Denis FC.
[4][2] On 29 March 1987, Plácido's most important moment in the international scene arrived as his brace helped to avoid a shock defeat in Madeira against Malta for the UEFA Euro 1988 qualifiers (2–2).