Vítor Lima
Quick Facts
Biography
Vítor Manuel Lima Santos (born 10 August 1981 in Guimarães) is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
Club career
Early years
Aged 19, Lima left his country and joined UD Salamanca in Spain. He would never appear officially for the first team – also being loaned to modest Zamora CF – and left the Castile and León club in the summer of 2001.
In the following four seasons, Lima played in the Portuguese third division with Clube Caçadores das Taipas (three years) and Académico de Viseu FC.
Falkirk
On 15 June 2005, free agent Lima joined Scottish Premier League side Falkirk alongside compatriot Tiago Jonas, being discovered by the club's player-coach Russell Latapy, who spent several seasons in Portugal as a player. He made his official debut on 6 August, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 away win against Livingston.
On 28 April 2006, Lima extended his contract with the Bairns for a further season. He left the club in the 2007 summer after having appeared in 42 competitive games (30 starts), hoping to "return to Portugal".
Greece / Return to Scotland
In June 2007, Lima joined Greek team Ethnikos Piraeus FC. He rarely missed a second level match during his tenure, almost always in the starting XI.
On 30 July 2009, Lima returned to Falkirk on a one-year deal. He missed several games during the campaign due to a knee injury, with the club eventually being relegated from the top flight after ranking 12th and last, following which he was released.
Late career
Lima return to Greece and its division two for 2010–11, helping Doxa Drama F.C. promote to the Superleague. In the 2012 off-season he moved to neighbouring Cyprus, signing with Ethnikos Achna FC.
On 12 July 2013, Lima joined Greek Football League club Iraklis Thessaloniki FC. On 7 June of the following year he was supposed to sign for another team in the country, Agrotikos Asteras FC, but the deal eventually fell through.