Karim Aït-Fana

Personal information
Full name	Karim Aït-Fana
Date of birth	25 February 1989 (1989-02-25) (age 20)
Place of birth	Limoges, France
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder Winger Second striker
Club information
Current club	Montpellier
Number	18
Youth career
1995–2002	AS Saint-Louis
2002–2004	INF Châteauroux
2003–2004	Limoges FC
2004–2006	Montpellier
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005–	Montpellier	80	(10)
National team‡
2005–2006	France U17	4	(0)
2006–2007	France U18	2	(0)
2007–2008	France U19	2	(0)
2009–	France U21	1	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 October 2009. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 9 October 2009

Karim Aït-Fana (Arabic: كاريم ايت-فانا‎; born 25 February 1989 in Limoges, France) is a French-Moroccan footballer who currently plays for Ligue 1 side Montpellier HSC. 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. His father is from Azrou and his mother is from Meknes.^[1]

Contents 1 Football career 2 International Career 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Football career

Aït-Fana began his career playing for his local club in Limoges, AS Saint Louis-du-Val. At the age of thirteen, he was selected to attend the Centre de Formation de Châteauroux, an elite 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 then-Ligue 2 club Montpellier HSC.

Aït-Fana made his professional football debut on 12 May 2006, the final match day of the 05-06 Ligue 2 season, coming on as a late-match substitute playing 9 minutes.^[2] The following season, his playing time increased to 13 matches. He also scored his first goal that season on 27 April 2007 against LB Châteauroux.^[3]

[edit] International Career

Aït-Fana has been active on the international youth circuit for France. He has earned limited caps with the under-17s, under-18s, and the under U-19 squad.^[4] After not representing France for over a year and a half, it was speculated that Aït-Fana would follow in the footsteps on fellow French-born Moroccan Marouane Chamakh and play for Morocco, his country of origin.^[5] However, on 1 October, he was called up to the France under-21 team by coach Eric Mombaerts for their 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification matches against Malta on 9 October and Belgium on 13 October.^[6] Aït-Fana made his debut in the Malta match appearing as a substitute in the 76^th minute. Despite being on the pitch for mere seconds, he scored France's second goal of the match ensuring them a 2–0 victory.^[7]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Profile on Montpellier HSC Website
• LFP Profile

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