Mateus Lima

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Limaand the second or paternal family name is Cruz.

Mateus Lima

Personal information
Full name	Mateus Lima Cruz
Date of birth	(1993-01-18) 18 January 1993 (age 30)
Place of birth	Iturama, Brazil
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Nasaf
Number	19
Youth career
2008–2012	Grêmio Barueri
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2013	Grêmio Barueri	5	(0)
2012	→ Sport Barueri (loan)	0	(0)
2013	Sport Recife	5	(2)
2014	Guarani	0	(0)
2014	Luverdense	4	(2)
2015	Operário Ferroviário	3	(1)
2015–2016	Kukësi	27	(7)
2016–2017	Santos	0	(0)
2017–2018	Borac Čačak	30	(8)
2018–2020	Slaven Belupo	51	(7)
2020–2021	Hapoel Nof HaGalil	29	(9)
2021–2022	Hapoel Rishon LeZion	34	(7)
2022–2023	Nasaf	34	(6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 December 2023

Mateus Lima Cruz (born 18 January 1993), known as Mateus, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a forward.

Club career

Born in Iturama, Minas Gerais, Mateus Lima was a Grêmio Barueri youth graduate. After a short loan spell at Sport Barueri, he made his professional debut on 17 November 2012, starting in a 2–0 home win against Avaí for the Série B championship. ^[1]

On 4 February 2013, Mateus Lima moved to Sport Recife. ^[2] After only appearing for the club in the Campeonato Pernambucano, he joined Guarani on 10 December. ^[3]

On 16 January 2014, Mateus Lima signed for Luverdense. ^[4] He scored his first professional goal on 19 November, but in a 1–2 home loss against América Mineiro; he added another ten days later, netting the game's only in a home success over Ceará.

On 20 February 2015, Mateus Lima agreed to a contract with Operário Ferroviário. ^[5] He was crowned champions of the year's Campeonato Paranaense, but appeared rarely.

In June 2015, Mateus Lima signed with Albanian Champions Skënderbeu Korçë as a reinforcement for the club's campaign in Champions League after the departures of Aco Stojkov, Dhiego Martins and Fatjon Sefa. ^[6] The Brazilian striker was also a target of FK Kukësi. ^[7] In his unofficial debut on 16 June, Lima scored in his debut after 29 minutes in an eventual 2–1 win against Romanian side. ^[8] Despite scoring in his debut, however, he was not named in Skënderbeu's squad list for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League because he did not convince his coach Mirel Josa in his appearances. ^[9]

In July 2015, after just one month with Skënderbeu Korçë, Mateus Limaleft the club and signed with Kukesi. ^[10] In the 2015–16 campaign, he scored seven league goals in 27 league appearances, along with three goals in the Albanian Cup.

In July 2016, Mateus Lima joined Santos, and was assigned to the B-team squad. ^[11]

On the last day of the summer transfer window 2017, Mateus Lima signed with the Serbian SuperLiga side Borac Čačak. ^[12]

In the summer of 2018, Mateus Lima signed a two-year contract with the Croatian First Football League side Slaven Belupo. ^[13]

On 17 August 2020 he signed with Hapoel Nof HaGalil. ^[14]

Career statistics

As of 1 June 2022 ^[15]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			State League		Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Grêmio Barueri	2012	Série B	2	0	0	0	—		—		—		2	0
	2013	Série C	0	0	3	0	—		—		—		3	0
	Total		2	0	3	0	—		—		—		5	0
Sport Barueri (loan)	2012	Paulista Série B	—		27	7	—		—		—		27	7
Sport	2013	Série B	0	0	10	3	3	0	—		—		13	3
Guarani	2014	Série C	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
Luverdense	2014	Série B	4	2	11	3	—		—		—		15	5
Operário Ferroviário	2015	Série D	0	0	3	1	—		—		—		3	1
Kukësi	2015-2016	Albanian Superliga	27	7	—		4	3	—		—		31	10
Santos	2016	Série A	0	0	—		0	0	—		6 [lower-alpha 1]	0	6	0
Borac Čačak	2017–18	Serbian SuperLiga	30	8	—		2	0	—		—		32	8
Slaven Belupo	2018–19	Croatian First Football League	21	5	—		2	0	—		—		23	5
	2019–20		30	2	—		4	0	—		—		34	2
Hapoel Nof HaGalil	2020–21	Liga Leumit	29	9	—		1	0	—		—		30	9
Hapoel Rishon LeZion	2021–22		34	7	—		1	0	—		4	0	39	7
Total			177	40	54	14	11	3	0	0	10	0	258	57

1. Appearance(s) in Copa Paulista

Honours

Operário Ferroviário

• Campeonato Paranaense: 2015

References

1. "Grêmio Barueri 2 x 0 Avaí – Molecada garante vitória da Abelha" [Grêmio Barueri 2–0 Avaí – Youngster assure victory of the Bee] (in Portuguese). Futebol Interior. 17 November 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
2. "Sport contrata Matheus[sic] Lima, que jogou Série B pelo Grêmio Barueri" [Sport sign Mateus Lima, who played the Série B for Grêmio Barueri] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
3. "Guarani confirma a contratação do atacante Mateus Lima, ex-Sport" [Guarani confirm the signing of forward Mateus Lima, formerly of Sport] (in Portuguese). Terra. 10 December 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
4. "Diretoria do Luverdense contrata atacante Mateus Lima, ex-Sport" [Luverdense's board sign forward Mateus Lima, formerly of Sport] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
5. "Operário anuncia dois reforços para o Paranaense" [Operário announce two signings for the Paranaense] (in Portuguese). A Rede. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
6. Alfred Lleshi (9 June 2015). "Mateus Lima Cruz, një sulmues Brazilian për Skënderbeun". Telesport.al (in Albanian). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
7. Llazi Saro (22 June 2015). "Lima: Kukësi më donte, por unë zgjodha kampionët, jam ambientuar shumë mirë". Panorama Sport (in Albanian). Retrieved 20 November 2015.
8. "Fiton Skënderbeu, shënon Lima, spikat shkodrani Dema dhe sulmuesi brazilian". Panorama Sport (in Albanian). 16 June 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
9. Erjon Hamitaj (12 July 2015). "Skënderbeu, Lulaj dhe Lima drejt huazimit". Telesport.al (in Albanian). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
10. "Një brazilian, pasuesi i Pejiçit". Panorama Sport. 26 July 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
11. "Santos B contrata atacante que estava na Albânia para a Copa Paulista" [Santos B sign forward who was in Albania for the Copa Paulista] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 29 July 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
12. "Бразилац Матеус у Борцу, Јовановић у Новом Пазару, Адамовић на Брду" [Brazilian Mateus in Borac, Jovanovic in Novi Pazar, Adamovic on Banovo Brdo] (in Serbian). Sportski žurnal. 2 September 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
13. "Mateus Lima Cruz od iduće sezone nosit će dres Slaven Belupa!" [Mateus Lima Cruz will wear Slaven Belupo shirt next season] (in Croatian). Slaven Belupo. 11 July 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
14. Solomon, Itzhak (17 August 2020). "הפועל נוף הגליל החתימה את החלוץ הברזילאי מתיאוס לימה" (in Hebrew). blinker. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
15. Mateus Lima at Soccerway. Retrieved 9 August 2016.

External links

• Mateus Lima at FootballDatabase.eu
• Mateus Lima at WorldFootball.net
• Mateus Lima at Soccerbase