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 Ilan atWest Ham in 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ilan Araújo Dall'Igna | ||
| Date of birth | (1980-09-18)18 September 1980 (age 45) | ||
| Place of birth | Curitiba, Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| 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 | (22) |
| 2006–2010 | Saint-Étienne | 107 | (26) |
| 2010 | West Ham United | 11 | (4) |
| 2010 | Internacional | 4 | (0) |
| 2011–2012 | Ajaccio | 26 | (6) |
| 2012–2014 | Bastia | 52 | (4) |
| Total | 332 | (87) | |
| International career | |||
| 2003 | Brazil | 3 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ilan Araújo Dall'Igna (born 18 September 1980), commonly known asIlan, is a Brazilian former professionalfootballer who played as astriker. He also holds an Italian passport.
Born inCuritiba, Ilan was initially scouted and signed byParaná Clube, and subsequently made his full-professional debut in aCampeonato Paranaense game in the 1999 season.
He remained at the club during the 2000 season, and was instrumental in helping the team to place fifth in theCopa João Havelange — which put Paraná back amongst the elites of Brazilian football.
In 2001, Ilan moved toSão Paulo, where he was part of the squad who won theTorneio Rio-São Paulo. However, he found himself restricted to very few appearances at São Paulo and was transferred toAtlético Paranaense.
Although Ilan was mainly used as a substitute, his impact was pivotal during the final of the Brazilian Championship, in which he started the match in place of fellow strikerKléber Boas. In the first leg of the final againstSão Caetano he scoredAtlético Paranaense's first goal in their 4–2 victory. His contribution was a key part of Atlético Paranaense winning their first Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.
In 2002, he suffered a serious injury which left him on the sidelines for the remainder of the season.
He returned to full fitness ready for the 2003 season and quickly made up for his absence by becoming a regular goalscorer for the club.
In 2004, he continued to score many goals for Atlético, even though he was often playing as a lone striker. Due to the arrival ofWashington and the increasing interest fromSochaux, he was sold in the summer for worth 3 million.
Ilan adapted well to the French league and scored 13 goals forSochaux in his debut season in which he became a key player and a fan favourite. On 21 August 2004, he made his debut for the club in a 2–1 loss againstAuxerre. On 16 October 2004, Ilan scored his first goal before scoring a hat-trick in a 3–0 win overStade Rennais. He followed up with goals in the next three matches againstToulouse,Caen andMonaco. Following a long wait he returned to scoring form with a brace in a 2–2 draw againstNantes on 19 December 2004. On 16 March 2005, he scored another brace in a 2–1 win overMetz. He continued a further three goals againstBastia, Toulouse and Caen. In theUEFA Cup campaign, Ilan scored one goal in the first leg and scored a brace in the second leg as Sochaux clearly beat Norwegian sideStabæk by a 9–0 aggregate score in the first round. In the first game of the group stage, he scored a brace in a 2–0 win overDinamo Tbilisi.
Ilan continued to impress during the2005–06 season, netting another ten goals in the league. He scored his first two goals of the season in a 2–1 win overNice and throughout the season, he scored againstLe Mans, Monaco (twice in two matches of the season),Lens, Saint-Étienne (his future club),Nancy and Stade Rennais. His performances for Sochaux had not gone unnoticed and in the summer of 2006 he was bought bySaint-Étienne for a transfer fee of €6 million.
Ilan initially flourished at his new club, and forged a formidable partnership with French strikerBafétimbi Gomis and Czech strikerMarek Heinz. In the second half in the 2006–07 season, he scored an overhead kick in a 2–0 victory overParis Saint-Germain which later earned him theTrophées UNFP du football Goal of the Year award. In his first season, he scored nine goals in Ligue 1 while the club did not meet the fans' expectations reaching only 11th place in the league. He scored against Nancy (twice in two matches of the season along with Lens and PSG), Auxerre and a brace each againstLille andValenciennes. Also in a match against Lens, Ilan scored an own goal.
In his second season, Ilan scored only six goals in 31 matches. He netted againstStrasbourg, twice against Caen, Sochaux and Auxerre.
In the 2008–09 season, he was Saint-Étienne's top scorer in theUEFA Cup where the club played after 27 years of absence from international football. He scored the winning goal in their second-leg win againstOlympiacos which put them through to the final 16 to face eventual runners upWerder Bremen. In the league, he reached 9 goals.
In his fourth and last season, Ilan only played 12 times scoring twice after falling out of favour within the Saint-Étienne ranks. In January 2010 Ilan and the club mutually agreed to cancel his contract, which was due to end the following summer, leaving him free to find a new club.[1]
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-Étienne in January.[2] He made his debut for West Ham on 6 February in a 2–1 away defeat toBurnley. Having replacedMark Noble in the 77th minute, he scored three minutes later.[3]
In March 2010 the press speculated that Ilan had openly criticised manager Gianfranco Zola;[4] a claim later refuted by the player and the club.[5]
After nine games without scoring for West Ham United, Ilan scored his second goal in the 87th minute againstEverton to make it 2–2 on 4 April 2010. The following week, he scored the only goal in the game in a 1–0 win overSunderland. After the impressive performances against Everton and Sunderland, he hoped to win a long-term deal at Upton Park.[6] 14 days later, he scored the opener after 31 minutes in a 3–2 win overWigan on 24 April 2010.
On 2 June 2010, West Ham announced that they would be releasing Ilan (along withMido) as they were surplus to requirements.[7]
After being released by West Ham United, Ilan had been linked to the Hammers league rivalsBolton Wanderers and Scottish runners-upCeltic as well as clubs in Turkey and Greece. On 24 August 2010,Sport Club Internacional announced that Ilan would be undergoing a medical and physical exams before signing a 1.5-year contract.[8] His move to Internacional ended his six-year stay in Europe.[9]
On 22 September 2010, Ilan made his debut for Internacional in a 1–0 loss againstAtlético Paranaense. After making just four appearances for the club, he was released at the end of theSérie A campaign. Before his release, he would have participated in theFIFA Club World Cup but had to do surgery because of an injury.[10]
Afree agent after his release from Internacional, Ilan returned to the Ligue 1 on 28 July 2011 signing for league newcomersAjaccio on a one-year deal with an option for a further season.[11] On 6 August 2011, he made his debut for Ajaccio in a 2–0 loss againstToulouse and scored his first goal on 27 August 2011 in a 4–1 loss againstAuxerre. He added another goal the following week againstValenciennes in a 3–1 win. On 25 September 2011, he suffered an injury during a match againstBrest in a 1–1 draw stating he was "suffering from slight pain" but added that the injury was "nothing too serious".[12] The injury caused him to miss three games before he made his return in a 3–0 loss againstMarseille on 22 October 2011. Later on the season, Ilan would later score againstCaen (2–2 draw on 19 November 2011),Lille (3–2 loss on 3 December 2011),Lorient (1–1 draw on 24 March 2012) andRennes (3–1 loss on 29 April 2012). The club ended the season in 16th place, staying in Ligue 1 for another season, with Ilan becoming the top-scorer for the club with six goals.
On 12 July 2012, Ilan signed for Ajaccio'sCorsica rivalsBastia, who had been newly promoted to Ligue 1.[13]
Ilan made his international debut forBrazil on 19 June 2003 againstCameroon in the2003 Confederations Cup. Two further appearances followed in the same competition.[2] He earned a call-up fromCarlos Alberto Parreira to theBrazil National Team in 2003 but did not make Parreira's final squad of 22 for the2004 Copa América 2004.
Ilan was born in Brazil but holds an Italian passport because of his father Italian descent and his mother is Brazilian with Spanish ancestry. Ilan is the son of William Dall'Igna, former professional football player and former coach ofParaná Clube. His father was responsible for introducing Ilan to football and was also his agent.[14][15]
| Club | Season | League | Cup[a] | Continental[b] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Paraná | 1999 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 12 | 2 | ||
| São Paulo | 2000 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 12 | 1 | ||
| Atlético Paranaense | 2001 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 15 | 3 | ||
| 2002 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2003 | 30 | 16 | 0 | 0 | — | 30 | 16 | |||
| 2004 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 18 | 3 | |||
| Total | 64 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 22 | ||
| Sochaux | 2004–05 | Ligue 1 | 27 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 35 | 17 |
| 2005–06 | Ligue 1 | 27 | 10 | 3 | 0 | — | 30 | 10 | ||
| Total | 54 | 22 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 65 | 27 | ||
| Saint-Étienne | 2006–07 | Ligue 1 | 33 | 9 | 1 | 0 | — | 34 | 9 | |
| 2007–08 | Ligue 1 | 31 | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | 33 | 6 | ||
| 2008–09 | Ligue 1 | 31 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 38 | 14 | |
| 2009–10 | Ligue 1 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 12 | 2 | ||
| Total | 107 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 117 | 31 | ||
| West Ham United | 2009–10 | Premier League | 11 | 4 | — | — | 11 | 4 | ||
| Internacional | 2010 | Série A | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |
| Ajaccio | 2011–12 | Ligue 1 | 26 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | 27 | 6 | |
| Bastia | 2012–13 | Ligue 1 | 22 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | 24 | 3 | |
| 2013–14 | Ligue 1 | 30 | 1 | 3 | 2 | — | 33 | 3 | ||
| Total | 52 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 6 | ||
| Career total | 332 | 87 | 14 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 358 | 99 | ||
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