Yaniv Katan

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Personal information
Yaniv Katan

Full name	Yaniv Katan
Date of birth	January 27, 1981 (age 26)
Place of birth	Qiryat Ata, Israel
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Maccabi Haifa (on loan from West Ham United)
Number	20
Youth clubs
1990-1998	Maccabi Haifa
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1998-2006 2006- 2006-	Maccabi Haifa West Ham United → Maccabi Haifa (loan)	223 (40) 6 (0) 18 (6)
National team²
1998-present	Israel U21 Israel	16 (?) 26 (5)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10 February 2007. ² National team caps and goals correct as of 10 February 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Yaniv Katan (Hebrew: יניב קטן, born January 27, 1981 in Qiryat Ata, Israel) is an Israeli international football forward and winger. He is currently contracted to English Premiership club West Ham United, but plays on loan for Maccabi Haifa.

Katan joined Maccabi Haifa's youth set up at the age of nine. He quickly moved up the club's ranks, becoming a regular in Haifa's senior squad at the age of 16. In 2002, during the second leg of the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round against FC Haka, he temporarily became the second Israeli (after Alon Mizrahi) to score a hat-trick in Europe — only for Haifa to be suspended for fielding an ineligible player and the scoreline reversed. The following season Maccabi reached the groups stages, and Katan opened the scoring against Manchester United twice: both in Maccabi's 2-5 away loss and in its 3-0 home win (which was played in Cyprus for security reasons).

In December 2005, Katan signed a four-year contract with West Ham United, where he joined up with Israeli international team mate Yossi Benayoun. The transfer (officially completed during the January 2006 transfer window) involved a cut-price fee of £100,000, as Katan had only six months left on his Maccabi contract.

The pacey centre forward made eight appearances (including six from the bench) for the Hammers, where he faced stiff competition for places with Marlon Harewood, Teddy Sheringham, Dean Ashton and Bobby Zamora all vying for a starting place. Katan impressed onlookers with his sharpness when called upon and quality first touch.

At the end of the 2005-06 season, Yaniv moved back to Maccabi Haifa in a loan deal, with a view to a permanent move^[1], after Alan Pardew reportedly told him he was no longer in his plans^[2]. This was something of a disappointment for the player, who had intimated that he was willing to stay and fight for his position.

[edit] References

↑ Katan leaves Hammers in loan deal, bbc.co.uk.
↑ Soccernet article quoting Ha'aretz interview to the bottom after Lionel Scaloni information.

[edit] External links

Maccabi Haifa F.C. - Current Squad
1 Davidovich \| 3 Harazi \| 5 A. Xavier \| 6 Keisi \| 7 Boccoli \| 8 Suan \| 9 Colautti \| 10 Masudi \| 11 Arbeitman \| 12 Melikson \| 14 Meshumar \| 15 Dirceu \| 16 Hemed \| 17 Gazal \| 18 Magrashvili \| 19 Olarra \| 20 Katan \| 21 Keinan \| 22 Almadon \| 23 Biram \| 24 Maman \| 26 Refaelov \| 44 Edri \| Manager: Levy