Mateus Lima Cruz (born 18 January 1993), known as Mateus, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a forward for Thai League 1 club Sukhothai, on loan from Ratchaburi.

Mateus Lima
Personal information
Full name Mateus Lima Cruz
Date of birth (1993-01-18) 18 January 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth Iturama, Brazil
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
Sukhothai
Number 9
Youth career
2008–2012 Grêmio Barueri
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2013 Grêmio Barueri 5 (0)
2012Sport 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)
2024 Ratchaburi 12 (5)
2024– Sukhothai 0 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 June 2024

Club career

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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

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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[a] 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

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Operário Ferroviário

References

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  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.
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