Ilan Araújo Dall'Igna

Ilan

Ilan at West Ham in April 2010
Personal information
Full name	Ilan Araújo Dall'Igna
Date of birth	18 September 1980 (1980-09-18)
Place of birth	Curitiba, Brazil
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	AC Ajaccio
Number	25
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1999–2000	Paraná	12	(2)
2001	São Paulo	12	(1)
2001–2004	Atlético Paranaense	64	(22)
2004–2006	Sochaux	54	(24)
2006–2010	Saint-Étienne	107	(26)
2010	West Ham United	11	(4)
2010	Internacional	4	(0)
2011–	Ajaccio	7	(2)
National team‡
2003	Brazil	3	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 September 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 9 September 2010

Ilan Araújo Dall'Igna (born 18 September 1980 in Curitiba), commonly known as Ilan, is a Brazilian footballer who is playing for AC Ajaccio. He also holds an Italian passport.

Club career

Paraná Clube

Ilan was initially scouted and signed by Paraná Clube, and subsequently made his full-professional debut in a Campeonato Paranaense game in the 1999 season.

Ilan remained at the club during the 2000 season, and was instrumental in helping the team to place fifth in the Copa João Havelange — which put Paraná back amongst the elites of Brazilian football.

São Paulo

In 2001, he moved to São Paulo, where he was part of the squad who won the Torneio Rio-São Paulo.

However Ilan found himself restricted to very few appearances at São Paulo FC and was transferred to Atlético Paranaense.

Atlético Paranaense

Although he was mainly used as a substitute, Ilan's impact was pivotal during the final of the Brazilian Championship, in which he started the match in place of fellow striker Kléber Boas. In the first leg of the final against São Caetano Ilan scored Atlético Paranaense's first goal in their 4–2 victory. Ilan's contribution was a key part of Atlético Paranaense winning their first Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.

In 2002, Ilan suffered a serious injury which left him on the sidelines for the remainder of the season.

Ilan returned to full fitness ready for the 2003 season and quickly made up for his absence by becoming a regular goalscorer for the club.

His stand out performances earned him a call-up from Carlos Alberto Parreira to the Brazilian National Team in 2003. Unfortunately he did not make Parreira's final squad of 22 for the 2004 Copa América 2004.

In 2004, he continued to score many goals for Atlético, even though he was often playing as a lone striker. Due to the arrival of Washington and the increasing interest from Sochaux, he was sold in the summer.

Sochaux

Ilan adapted well to the French league and scored 13 goals for Sochaux in his debut season. He continued to impress during the 2005–06 season, netting another 10 goals in the league. His performances for FC Sochaux had not gone unnoticed and in the summer of 2006 he was bought by AS Saint-Étienne.

Saint-Étienne

Ilan initially flourished at his new club, and forged a formidable partnership with French striker Bafetimbi Gomis. Ilan was Saint-Étienne's top scorer in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup. He scored the winning goal in their second-leg win against Olympiacos which put them through to the final 16 to face eventual runners up Werder Bremen. Ilan only played 12 times scoring twice in the 2009–2010 season after falling out of favour within the AS Saint-Étienne ranks. In January 2010 Ilan and Saint-Étienne mutually agreed to cancel his contract, which was due to end the following summer, leaving Ilan free to find a new club.

West Ham United

On 1 February 2010, West Ham United confirmed the signing of Brazilian forward Ilan on a six-month contract. He was available on a free transfer after leaving French club AS Saint-Etienne in January. He made his debut for West Ham on 6 February in 2–1 away defeat against Burnley. He replaced Mark Noble in the 77th minute and scored three minutes later.

In March 2010 the press speculated that Ilan had openly criticised manager Gianfranco Zola; a claim later refuted by the player and the club.

After a 9 games without scoring for West Ham United, Ilan scored his second goal on the 87th minutes against Everton to make it 2-2 all on 4 April 2010. The following week, Ilan scored the only goal in the game in a 1-0 win over Sunderland which turns out to be a winner. After impressive performance by scoring 2 goals for the past 2 weeks, Ilan hoping to win a long-term deal at Upton Park and ould be happy to extend his stay at the club. 14 day later, Ilan scored the opener on a 31th minutes in a 3-2 win over Wigan on 24 April 2010.

On 2 June 2010 West Ham announced that they would be releasing Ilan (along with Mido) as they were surplus to requirements.

Internacional

After being released by West Ham United, Ilan had been linked to the Hammers league rivals Bolton Wanderers and Scottish runners-up Celtic as well as clubs in Turkey and Greece. However, the move never materialise but on 24 August 2010, Sport Club Internacional announced that Ilan will be taking medical and physical exams before signing an one and a half year contract. His move to Internacional ended a six years in Europe. Ilan says he is delighted to finally return home and says that he has joined the best club in Brazil. “For me, Internacional are the best club in Brazil. I had received other offers but I decided to come here.” On 22 September 2010, Ilan made his debut for Internacional in a 1-0 loss against Atlético Paranaense. After just making 4 appearance for Internacional, Ilan was released at the end of the Série A campaign.

AC Ajaccio

Since his released from Internacional, Ilan spend the 2010/2011 as a free agent. On the 28 July 2011, Ilan returned to the Ligue 1 by signing for Ligue 1 newcomer AC Ajaccio after a 18 months absent. Ilan signed a 1 year deal with an option for a further season at Ajaccio On 6 August 2011, Ilan made his debut for Ajaccio in a 2-0 loss against Toulouse. Ilan yet to score until on 27 August 2011 when he scored his first goal in a 4-1 loss against Auxerre and the following week Ilan scored another against Valenciennes FC in a 3-1 win. On 25 September 2011, Ilan suffered an injury during a match against Brest in a 1-1 draw and is "suffering from slight pain" but added that the injury is "nothing too serious". His injury caused Ilan to miss 3 game and made his return in a 3-0 loss against Marseille on 22 October 2011.

International career

Ilan made his international debut for Brazil on 19 June 2003 against Cameroon in the 2003 Confederations Cup. Two further appearances followed in the same competition.

Club career statistics

(correct as of 16 May 2010)

Club	Season	League			Cup			Europe			Total
		Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists
Paraná	1999	12	2	-	0	0	0	-	-	-	12	2	-
Total		12	2	-	0	0	0	-	-	-	12	2	-
São Paulo	2000	12	1	-	0	0	0	-	-	-	12	1	-
Total		12	1	-	0	0	0	-	-	-	12	1	-
Atlético-PR	2001	15	3	-	0	0	0	-	-	-	15	3	-
	2002	1	0	-	0	0	0	-	-	-	1	0	-
	2003	30	16	-	0	0	0	-	-	-	30	16	-
	2004	18	3	-	0	0	0	-	-	-	18	3	-
Total		64	22	-	0	0	0	-	-	-	64	22	-
Sochaux	2004–05	27	13	-	0	0	0	6	4	-	33	17	-
	2005–06	27	11	-	0	0	0	-	-	-	27	11	-
Total		54	24	-	0	0	0	6	4	-	60	28	-
St-Etienne	2006–07	33	9	-	0	0	0	-	-	-	33	9	-
	2007–08	31	6	-	0	0	0	-	-	-	31	6	-
	2008–09	31	9	-	0	0	0	6	5	-	37	14	-
	2009–10	12	2	-	0	0	0	-	-	-	12	2	-
Total		107	26	-	0	0	0	6	5	-	113	31	-
West Ham	2010	11	4	-	0	0	0	-	-	-	11	4	-
Total		11	4	-	0	0	0	-	-	-	11	4	-
Career totals		259	78	-	0	0	0	12	9	-	271	87	-

External links

• Ilan career stats at Soccerbase
• Ilan Araújo Dall'Igna French league stats at LFP.fr (French)