Former Benfica striker Lima continued his fine start to life at Al Ahli with two goals in a friendly defeat to Udinese in Forni di Sotto on Friday.
Lima, 32, signed for the Arabian Gulf League side last week and is tasked with solving the goalscoring crisis that scuppered their league title defence last season.
And if the early signs are anything to go by, Al Ahli may have found themselves a real gem.
MORE ARABIAN GULF LEAGUE NEWS
Lima promises to ‘repay the faith’ by helping Al Ahli win trophies
Ryan Babel ‘neither Messi nor Ronaldo’ but will strive to meet demands of Al Ain fans
Al Nasr sign former Villarreal and Brazil striker Nilmar on two-year deal
Lima came off the bench in his preseason debut to score after just two minutes and followed that cameo with both goals in Al Ahli’s 3-2 loss to Udinese.
The first, which gave Al Ahli the lead, was an instinctive, turn-and-shoot striker’s finish. His second, however, is sure to get Al Ahli fans excited of what they hope is a sign of things to come this season, with Lima latching on to a through-ball from Brazilian playmaker Everton Ribeiro.
Udinese would go on to win the match with goals from Lucas Evangelista, Alexandre Geijo, and Alexander Merkel, but the free-scoring football displayed by Al Ahli in preseason so far is sure to create optimism ahead of the new season.
Al Ahli begin their campaign with an Arabian Gulf League fixture against Fujairah on August 19 before the first leg of the Asian Champions League against Naft Tehran on August 26.
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @NatSportUAE
