Ildefons Lima

Ildefons Lima Solà (born 10 December 1979) is a professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Inter Club d'Escaldes and the Andorra national team.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Lima and the second or maternal family name is Solà.

Ildefons Lima
Lima with Andorra in 2016
Personal information
Full name Ildefons Lima Solà
Date of birth (1979-12-10) 10 December 1979
Place of birth Barcelona, Spain
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 3 1⁄2 in)
Playing position(s) Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Inter d'Escaldes
Number 6
Youth career
Damm
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–1999 FC Andorra 64 (2)
1999–2000 Espanyol B 1 (0)
2000–2001 Sant Andreu 25 (2)
2001–2002 Ionikos 0 (0)
2002 Pachuca 3 (1)
2002–2003 Las Palmas 25 (2)
2004 Poli Ejido 2 (0)
2004–2005 Rayo Vallecano 34 (1)
2005–2009 Triestina 79 (1)
2009–2011 Bellinzona 43 (4)
2011–2012 Triestina 17 (2)
2012–2014 FC Andorra 45 (15)
2014–2018 Santa Coloma 84 (18)
2018– Inter d'Escaldes 28 (2)
National team‡
1997– Andorra 127 (11)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 3 February 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2019

He has played club football in Spain, Greece, Mexico, Italy, Switzerland and Andorra.

At international level, Lima holds the records for most appearances and most goals for Andorra as of 2019.[1]

Early life

Born in Barcelona, Catalonia[2] to an Andalusian father and a Catalan mother,[3] Lima's family moved to Andorra when he was two months old.[4]

Club career

Lima's first years as a senior were spent with FC Andorra, playing one season each in the Spanish third and fourth divisions. Subsequently, he played in both levels with RCD Espanyol B and UE Sant Andreu, splitting the following campaign abroad between Ionikos F.C. of Greece and C.F. Pachuca in Mexico.

In the summer of 2002, Lima returned to Spain, playing one and a half seasons with UD Las Palmas in the second tier, moving in January 2004 to another club in that tier, Polideportivo Ejido, and spending the following campaign with Rayo Vallecano in the third level.

Lima then played four years with U.S. Triestina Calcio in Italy.[5] With the Trieste side, he was occasionally used as a forward at the request of elusive chairman Flaviano Tonellotto.[6] In 2009, aged nearly 30, he switched countries again, signing for AC Bellinzona in the Swiss Super League.

After two seasons in Switzerland and one back at Triestina,[7] Lima signed again for FC Andorra, now of the Primera Catalana, instead of several offers to play in the principality's Primera Divisió.[8] On 12 June 2014, he joined the latter league's champion FC Santa Coloma;[9] he scored for them on 8 July in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League away to FC Banants, as they advanced on away goals.[10]

International career

Lima made his debut for Andorra aged 17, in the country's second ever game on 22 June 1997, scoring in a 1–4 friendly defeat in Estonia. He went on to lead the national team's scoring charts, and also amassed more than 100 caps.[11][12]

In June 2009, near the end of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, Lima scored his first competitive goal for over eight years and six years overall, netting the last goal of a 1–5 away defeat against Belarus. On 9 September 2014, in Andorra's first match of the UEFA Euro 2016 qualification phase, he netted a sixth-minute penalty to give the side a 1–0 lead over Wales, but in an eventual 1–2 home loss.[13]

After Óscar Sonejee, Lima was the second Andorran to reach a century of caps, playing his 100th game on 1 June 2016, a 0–2 friendly loss to Estonia in Tallinn.[14] On 22 February 2017 he opened a 2–0 away win over San Marino in another exhibition game, ending a run of 86 defeats.[15]

Lima surpassed Sonejee's national record of 106 internationals on 16 August 2017, when he played a friendly against Qatar in Burton-on-Trent.[16]

International goals
As of 22 February 2017 (Andorra score listed first, score column indicates score after each Lima goal)[17][11]
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.22 June 1997Linnastaadion, Kuressaare, Estonia Estonia1–31–4Friendly
2.2 September 2000Communal d'Aixovall, Andorra La Vella, Andorra Cyprus2–12–32002 World Cup qualification
325 April 2001Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland1–01–32002 World Cup qualification
4.27 March 2002Ta' Qali Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta Malta1–01–1Friendly
5.4 June 2008Comunal d'Aixovall, Andorra la Vella, Andorra Azerbaijan1–11–2Friendly
6.11 February 2009S. Darius and S. Girėnas, Kaunas, Lithuania Lithuania1–21–3Friendly
7.6 June 2009Neman Stadium, Grodno, Belarus Belarus1–51–52010 World Cup qualification
8.9 September 2014Estadi Nacional, Andorra la Vella, Andorra Wales1–01–2Euro 2016 qualifying
9.13 October 2014Estadi Nacional, Andorra la Vella, Andorra Israel1–11–4Euro 2016 qualifying
10.11 October 2015Estadi Nacional, Andorra la Vella, Andorra Belgium1–21–4Euro 2016 qualifying
11.22 February 2017Olimpico di Serravalle, Serravalle, San Marino San Marino1–02–0Friendly

Personal life

Despite debuting for the Andorran national team when he was 17, Lima only became a citizen when he turned 20 years of residence in the country.[4] His older brother, Toni, was also a footballer and a defender. He too spent most of his career in the lower leagues of Spain, and the pair shared teams at Ionikos.[18][19]

References
  1. Duret, Sébastien; Mamrud, Roberto (21 August 2019). "Andorra – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  2. Mentruit, Inmaculada (8 October 2008). "Aventuras de un andorrano en la Serie B" [Adventures of an Andorran in Serie B]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  3. Doral, Alba (7 April 2019). "Ildefons Lima i el mapamundi" [Ildefons Lima and the world map]. Diari d'Andorra (in Catalan). Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  4. "Fiebre Maldini: Ildefons Lima, orgullo de Andorra | Movistar+" [Fiebre Maldini: Ildefons Lima, pride of Andorra | Movistar+] (in Spanish). YouTube. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  5. Rodio, Antonello (3 August 2005). "Arriva Lima, stopper della nazionale di Andorra" [Lima, Andorran national team stopper, arrives]. Il Piccolo (in Italian). Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  6. "Il calcio andorrano oltre la playstation" [Andorran football as well as playstation] (in Italian). Rovesciate. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  7. "Triestina, "Nanu" Galderisi è il nuovo allenatore. Ufficiali il ritorno di Lima e l'acquisto di Galasso" [Triestina, "Nanu" Galderisi is the new manager. Return of Lima and acquisition of Galasso official] (in Italian). Sportest. 25 October 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  8. "Lima accepta l'oferta esportiva de l'Andorra abans que la de la Lliga" [Lima accepts FC Andorra's sporting offer rather than that of the League]. El Periòdic d'Andorra (in Catalan). 29 August 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  9. "L'FC Santa Coloma fitxa Ildefons Lima i Iban Parra" [FC Santa Coloma sign Ildefons Lima and Iban Parra] (in Catalan). Andorra Difusió. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  10. "Keeper Casals edges Santa Coloma past Banants". UEFA. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  11. Mamrud, Roberto. "Ildefons Lima Solá – Goals in International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  12. Ruiz, David (15 October 2015). "Ildefons Lima, el 'Panenka' pirenaico, es el defensa más goleador de la Eurocopa" [Ildefons Lima, the 'Panenka' of the Pyrenees, is the top-scoring defender in the European Championship]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  13. "Gareth Bale double rescues feeble Wales from embarrassment in Andorra". The Guardian. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  14. "Derrota ajustada de la Selecció a Tallinn en el centenari d'Ilde Lima" [National team's close defeat in Tallinn on Ilde Lima's centenary] (in Catalan). Andorran Football Federation. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  15. "Andorra has finally ended the longest-running losing streak in international football". Esquire. 23 February 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  16. Blasco, Joan Josep (17 August 2017). "Ildefons Lima: l'home rècord" [Ildefons Lima: the record man]. El Periòdic d'Andorra (in Catalan). Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  17. "Ildefons Lima". European Football. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  18. "Andorra – El milagro contra Macedonia" [Andorra – The miracle against Macedonia] (in Spanish). Pablo Aro Geraldes. 3 February 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  19. Blanco, Jordi (13 November 2014). "Ildefons Lima, un andorrano en Wembley" [Ildefons Lima, an Andorran in Wembley] (in Spanish). AM 14. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
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