Karim Aït-Fana

Karim Aït-Fana (Arabic: كاريم ايت-فانا‎; born 25 February 1989) is a Moroccan professional footballer who plays as a striker. Having represented France at various youth levels, he has made three appearances for the senior Morocco national team.

Karim Aït-Fana
Aït-Fana in 2012
Personal information
Date of birth (1989-02-25) 25 February 1989
Place of birth Limoges, France
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Winger
Youth career
1995–1997 Air Limoges
1997–2002 AS Saint-Louis
2002–2004 IFR Châteauroux
2003–2004 Limoges
2004–2006 Montpellier
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2016 Montpellier 149 (17)
2016–2017 Nîmes Olympique 23 (0)
2017–2018 GS Consolat 3 (0)
2018 Wydad Casablanca 0 (0)
2019 Gallia Lucciana 8 (0)
National team‡
2004–2005 France U16 4 (0)
2005–2006 France U17 3 (0)
2006–2007 France U18 6 (1)
2007–2008 France U19 3 (0)
2009–2010 France U21 5 (1)
2012–2017 Morocco 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:05, 26 July 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18:05, 26 July 2020 (UTC)

Aït-Fana can play in a variety of attacking positions, which include playing in the hole, as a winger, and in the attacking midfield position. Though born in France, Aït-Fana's father is from Azrou and his mother is from Meknes.[1]

Club career

Montpellier

Aït-Fana was born in Limoges and began his career playing for his local club, Air Limoges. At the age of thirteen, he was selected to attend the Centre de Formation de Châteauroux, a regional youth academy that is comparable to that of the Clairefontaine academy, in order to receive further training. While training at Châteauroux during the week, he played with hometown club Limoges FC on the weekends. After spending two years at the academy, he joined Montpellier.

Aït-Fana made his professional football debut on 12 May 2006, the final match day of the 2005–06 season, coming on as a late-match substitute playing 9 minutes in a 0–1 loss to Le Havre.[2] The following season, his playing time increased to 13 matches. He also scored his first goal during this season on 27 April 2007 against LB Châteauroux in a 1–3 defeat.[3] Aït-Fana's role in the team was greatly expanded for the 2007–08 season as he appeared in 37 total matches. He scored his only two goals for the season in the final league match of the season against FC Libourne-Saint-Seurin, which Montpellier won 5–0.

Montpellier earned promotion to Ligue 1 following the club's successful campaign during the 2008–09 season with Aït-Fana having an influential role. He scored a career-high six goals during the campaign including the winner against Guingamp late in the season with the club in the midst of a promotion battle. Due to his successful season, Aït-Fana was given a contract extension with the club until the year 2012.[4] In his first season with Montpellier in Ligue 1, Aït-Fana was a revelation in the team, which reached as high as secondnd position in the league. He has scored impressive goals against Sochaux, Boulogne, Le Mans, and Marseille. Montpellier went undefeated in the five league matches Aït-Fana has scored in.

In Montpellier's last home game of the 2011–12 campaign, Aït-Fana scored a last minute goal in a 1–0 win over Lille after coming off the bench.

Consolat GS

In early January 2018, Aït-Fana left Championnat National side GS Consolat.[5]

Wydad Casablanca

In late January, Aït-Fana joined reigning African champions Wydad AC, agreeing a 1.5-year deal.[5] In August 2018 Aït-Fana revealed, that few days after signing the contract, he learned that his contract was not certified for an administrative history and he then went back to France.[6]

Gallia Lucciana

In January 2019, Aït-Fana joined Gallia Club Lucciana in the Championnat National 3.[7]

International career

Aït-Fana has been active on the international youth circuit for France. He has earned limited caps with the under-16s, under-17s, under-18s, and the under U-19 squad.[8] After not representing France for over a year and a half, it was speculated that he would follow in the footsteps on fellow French-born Moroccan Marouane Chamakh and play for Morocco, his country of origin.[1] However, on 1 October 2009, he was called up to the France under-21 team by coach Erick Mombaerts for their 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification matches against Malta on 9 October and Belgium on 13 October.[9] He made his debut in the Malta match appearing as a substitute in the 76th minute. Despite being on the pitch for mere seconds, he scored France's second goal of the match ensuring them a 2–0 victory.[10]

Aït-Fana made his debut with the national team of Morocco in a friendly match against Senegal held on 25 May in Marrakech.

Personal life

Aït-Fana is Muslim.[11]

Career statistics

Club
As of 18 February 2018[12][13]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[nb 1] Europe[nb 2] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Montpellier 2005–06 Ligue 2 10000010
2006–07 1310000131
2007–08 3126000372
2008–09 2962000316
2009–10 Ligue 1 3352200357
2010–11 1904020250
2011–12 1124000152
2012–13 800021101
2013–14 41000041
Total 149172024117320
Montpellier B 2014–15 CFA 10000010
Nîmes 2016–17 Ligue 2 2301000240
Consolat Marseille 2017–18 Championnat National 30100040
Career total 176172224120220
  1. Includes Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue, Trophée des Champions
  2. Includes UEFA Europa League, UEFA Champions League

Honours

Club

Montpellier

References
  1. "Interview Exclusive: Karim AIT FANA". Archived from the original on 24 December 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  2. Montpellier v. Le Havre Match Report Archived 17 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Lfp.fr.
  3. Montpellier v. Châteauroux Match Report. Lfp.fr.
  4. Montpellier : Aït Fana prolonge. Mercato365.com.
  5. "Le week-end des pros limousins : Roudet encore décisif, Aït-Fana et Doumbouya vers de nouveaux horizons". Le Populaire du Centre (in French). 29 January 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  6. Karim Aït-Fana : «Les clubs ont toujours de moi l'image d'un joueur blessé», lequipe.fr, 23 August 2018
  7. Karim Aït-Fana at Soccerway
  8. France v. Greece Match Report
  9. Aït-Fana et Yanga-Mbiwa convoqués Archived 7 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Victoire française (2–0). Fff.fr.
  12. "Karim AïT-FANA - Football : la fiche de Karim AïT-FANA (Marseille Consolat)". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  13. "Karim Aït Fana » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
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