1. Ildefons Lima Sola was born on 10 December 1979 and is an Andorran former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.
13 Facts About Ildefons Lima
1. 2.
Ildefons Lima played club football in Spain, Greece, Mexico, Italy, Switzerland and Andorra.
3.
Ildefons Lima was born in Barcelona, Catalonia to an Andalusian father and a Catalan mother.
4.
Ildefons Lima's family moved to Andorra when he was two months old.
5.
Ildefons Lima moved in January 2004 to another team in that league, Polideportivo Ejido, and spent the following campaign with Rayo Vallecano in division three.
6.
Ildefons Lima then played four years with US Triestina Calcio 1918 in Italy.
7.
Ildefons Lima surpassed Sonejee's national record of 106 internationals on 16 August 2017, when he played a friendly against Qatar in Burton-on-Trent.
8.
On 3 June 2021, Ildefons Lima became just the third European footballer to be capped in four different decades when playing in a friendly defeat to Republic of Ireland.
9.
On 16 June 2023, the 43-year-old Ildefons Lima became the oldest player to appear at a UEFA European Championship qualifying match.
10.
Ildefons Lima retired from the national team after a Euro 2024 qualifier against Switzerland on 12 September 2023; he was substituted after 23 minutes to a standing ovation by both sets of supporters and replaced by Ricard Fernandez, a player born two years into his international career.
11.
Ildefons Lima's 26-year spell for his country was the longest in men's football history.
12.
Ildefons Lima's older brother, Antoni, was a footballer and a defender.
13.
Ildefons Lima too spent most of his career in the lower leagues of Spain, and the pair shared teams at Ionikos.