Lucas Rafael Araújo Lima (born 9 July 1990), known as Lucas Lima, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Fortaleza, on loan from Palmeiras.
![]() Lucas Lima with Santos in 2017 | |||
Personal information | |||
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Full name | Lucas Rafael Araújo Lima | ||
Date of birth | (1990-07-09) 9 July 1990 (age 32) | ||
Place of birth | Marília, Brazil | ||
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
Position(s) | Attacking midfielder | ||
Club information | |||
Current team |
Fortaleza (on loan from Palmeiras) | ||
Number | 13 | ||
Youth career | |||
2008 | Rio Preto | ||
2009 | América-SP | ||
2009–2010 | Inter de Limeira | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2010–2012 | Inter de Limeira | 64 | (9) |
2012–2013 | Internacional | 16 | (0) |
2013 | → Sport Recife (loan) | 46 | (9) |
2014–2017 | Santos | 163 | (16) |
2018– | Palmeiras | 136 | (11) |
2021– | → Fortaleza (loan) | 12 | (1) |
National team‡ | |||
2015–2017 | Brazil | 14 | (2) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:23, 12 November 2021 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 25 January 2017 |
Born in Marília, São Paulo, Lucas Lima finished his formation with Inter de Limeira, joining their youth setup in 2009, after being released by Rio Preto and América-SP.[1] He was promoted to the former's main squad in 2010.
Lucas Lima made his senior debut on 16 May 2010, starting in a 2–1 home win against Brasilis. He scored his first senior goal on 30 May 2010, netting the second in a 3–0 away win against Palmeirinha.
In August 2011 Lucas Lima had a trial at La Liga side Racing de Santander,[2] but nothing came of it.
In July 2012, Lucas Lima joined SC Internacional, initially assigned with the under-23 squad.[3] After being promoted to the first team,[4] he made his debut for Colorado on 15 July, starting in a 0–0 home draw against Santos FC.[5] He appeared in 14 matches during the season, with only four starts, however.
On 5 March 2013, Lucas Lima joined Sport Recife on loan until the end of the season.[6] He soon established himself as a starter, and appeared in 46 matches (36 in the league), scoring nine times.
On 7 February 2014, Lucas Lima signed a four-year deal with Santos, for a R$5 million fee.[7] He made his debut for the club late in the month, in a 5–0 home routing over Bragantino,[8] and scored his first goal on 7 March, in a 5–2 away success against Mogi Mirim.[9]
After the departure of Cícero to Fluminense, Lucas Lima became the club's first-choice, and scored his first Série A goal on 29 May, in a 2–0 away win against Bahia.[10] He finished the campaign with 35 league appearances and three goals, being now a key unit for the club.[11]
Lucas Lima scored the decisive penalty for Santos in 2015 Campeonato Paulista final, netting the fourth in a 4–2 shootout win over Palmeiras. He was also included in the tournament's best eleven.[12] He completed his 100th game for the club on 18 October of that year, starting in a 3–1 home win against Goiás,[13] and finished the year with four league goals in 30 appearances.
Lucas Lima failed to maintain the high standards of the previous campaign during the 2016 season; hampered by injuries in the year's Paulistão[14] (in which he was still elected Best player),[15] the constant call ups to the national team also impeded his recovery at the club.[16] He still scored a direct free kick in a 3–0 home win against rivals São Paulo on 26 June.[17]
After the departure of Gabriel to Internazionale, Lucas Lima was assigned the number 10 jersey.[18] He made his Copa Libertadores debut on 9 March 2017, starting and assisting Thiago Maia's goal in a 1–1 away draw against Sporting Cristal; he was also elected the Man of the match.[19]
Despite playing regularly during the year, Lucas Lima only scored one league goal during the campaign (in a 2–0 home win against rivals Corinthians); he was also the player with the highest number of bookable offences during the competition.[20] After refusing the renewal offer from the club, he was separated from the first team on 21 November 2017.[21]
On 30 November 2017, Lucas Lima signed a pre-contract with Santos' rival Palmeiras, effective as of 1 January.[22] On 18 April 2021, Lucas Lima's manager Alessio Sundas, announced that the player was on its way to Inter Miami, David Beckham's team playing in the America's Major League Soccer.[23]
On 13 August 2015, Lucas Lima was called up to Brazil national team by manager Dunga for friendlies against Costa Rica and United States.[24] He made his full international debut for Brazil on 5 September, starting in a 1–0 win against Costa Rica at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.[25]
Lucas Lima scored his first goal for Brazil in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Argentina, securing a 1–1 tie.[26] On 5 May 2016, he was named among the 23-man list for the Copa América Centenario to be held in the United States.[27] He came off the bench in matches against Ecuador and Haiti, scoring the fifth goal in the 7–1 routing of the latter, and started the last match of the group stage, a 0–1 loss (and eventual elimination) against Peru.
Club | Season | League | State League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
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Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Inter de Limeira | 2010 | Paulista 2ª Divisão | — | 27 | 6 | — | — | — | 27 | 6 | ||||
2011 | Paulista A3 | — | 14 | 2 | — | — | 7[lower-alpha 1] | 1 | 21 | 3 | ||||
2012 | — | 23 | 1 | — | — | — | 23 | 1 | ||||||
Subtotal | — | 64 | 9 | — | — | 7 | 1 | 71 | 10 | |||||
Internacional | 2012 | Série A | 14 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 14 | 0 | ||||
2013 | — | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||||
Subtotal | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 16 | 0 | |||||
Sport Recife (loan) | 2013 | Série B | 36 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | — | 53 | 9 | |
Santos | 2014 | Série A | 35 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 1 | — | — | 49 | 5 | ||
2015 | 31 | 4 | 18 | 1 | 11 | 1 | — | — | 60 | 6 | ||||
2016 | 25 | 2 | 17 | 2 | 5 | 1 | — | — | 47 | 5 | ||||
2017 | 25 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | — | 45 | 3 | |||
Subtotal | 116 | 10 | 47 | 6 | 30 | 3 | 8 | 0 | — | 201 | 19 | |||
Palmeiras | 2018 | Série A | 34 | 5 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7[lower-alpha 3] | 1 | — | 60 | 7 | |
2019 | 23 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | — | 43 | 1 | |||
2020 | 32 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 2 | ||
2021 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | ||
Subtotal | 89 | 7 | 47 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 165 | 12 | ||
Fortaleza (loan) | 2021 | Série A | 12 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 12 | 1 | ||||
Career total | 267 | 25 | 170 | 21 | 48 | 3 | 26 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 518 | 51 |
Brazil | ||
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Year | Apps | Goals |
2015 | 6 | 1 |
2016 | 7 | 1 |
2017 | 1 | 0 |
Total | 14 | 2 |
No | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
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1. | 13 November 2015 | Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina | ![]() | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
2. | 8 June 2016 | Camping World Stadium, Orlando, United States | ![]() | 5–0 | 7–1 | Copa América Centenario |
Fortaleza – current squad | |
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Brazil squad – Copa América Centenario | ||
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Copa do Brasil best player | |
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