Ilan

Ilan Araújo Dall'Igna (born 18 September 1980), commonly known as Ilan, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a striker.

He also holds an Italian passport.

Born in Curitiba, 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.

He 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.

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

However, he found himself restricted to very few appearances at São Paulo and was transferred to Atlético 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 striker Kléber Boas.

In the first leg of the final against São Caetano he scored Atlético 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 of Washington and the increasing interest from Sochaux, he was sold in the summer for worth 3 million.

Ilan adapted well to the French league and scored 13 goals for Sochaux 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 against Auxerre.

On 16 October 2004, Ilan scored his first goal before scoring a hat-trick in a 3–0 win over Stade Rennais.

He followed up with goals in the next three matches against Toulouse, Caen and Monaco.

Following a long wait he returned to scoring form with a brace in a 2–2 draw against Nantes on 19 December 2004.

On 16 March 2005, he scored another brace in a 2–1 win over Metz.

He continued a further three goals against Bastia, Toulouse and Caen.

In the UEFA Cup campaign, Ilan scored one goal in the first leg and scored a brace in the second leg as Sochaux clearly beat Norwegian side Stabæk 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 over Dinamo Tbilisi.

Ilan continued to impress during the 2005–06 season, netting another ten goals in the league.

He scored his first two goals of the season in a 2–1 win over Nice and throughout the season, he scored against Le 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 by Saint-Étienne for a transfer fee of €6 million.

Ilan initially flourished at his new club, and forged a formidable partnership with French striker Bafétimbi Gomis and Czech striker Marek Heinz.

In the second half in the 2006–07 season, he scored an overhead kick in a 2–0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain which later earned him the Trophées UNFP du football Goal of the Year award.

In the 2008–09 season, he was Saint-Étienne's top scorer in the UEFA Cup where the club played after 27 years of absence from international football.

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.

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.

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.

He made his debut for West Ham on 6 February in a 2–1 away defeat to Burnley.

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 against Lille and Valenciennes.

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 against Strasbourg, twice against Caen, Sochaux and Auxerre.