Antonio Luna (footballer)

This article is about the Spanish footballer. For the Filipino pharmacist and general, see Antonio Luna.
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Luna and the second or maternal family name is Rodríguez.
Antonio Luna

Luna playing for Almería in 2011
Personal information
Full name Antonio Manuel Luna Rodríguez[1]
Date of birth (1991-03-17) 17 March 1991
Place of birth Son Servera, Spain
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Left back
Club information
Current team
Eibar
Number 19
Youth career
Sevilla
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2011 Sevilla B 32 (1)
2010–2013 Sevilla 21 (1)
2011Almería (loan) 13 (0)
2013Mallorca (loan) 11 (0)
2013–2015 Aston Villa 17 (1)
2014–2015Verona (loan) 0 (0)
2015Spezia (loan) 4 (0)
2015– Eibar 20 (0)
National team
2007 Spain U16 1 (0)
2009 Spain U18 1 (0)
2009 Spain U19 3 (0)
2011 Spain U20 5 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 October 2016.


Antonio Manuel Luna Rodríguez (born 17 March 1991) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for SD Eibar as a left back.

Formed at Sevilla, he represented three other clubs in La Liga, as well as having brief stints in England and Italy.

Club career

Sevilla

Born in Son Servera, Majorca, Luna finished his youth career in Andalusia with Sevilla FC, making his senior debut with the reserve side in Segunda División B. On 15 and 19 May 2010, he appeared in his first two official games with the first team, and both were decisive ones: in the first he played the full 90 minutes as his team won 3–2 away against UD Almería in the last round, finally edging RCD Mallorca for the last qualification position for the UEFA Champions League.[2] The second was a 2–0 triumph over Atlético Madrid in the final of the Copa del Rey, again playing the full match.[3]

On 19 January 2011, Luna was loaned to neighbouring Almería until the end of the campaign.[4] He was regularly utilized, as the club suffered top flight relegation after a four-year stay.

After returning to Sevilla, Luna played 14 league matches in 2011–12, his first full season. He scored his first goal as a professional in a 1–2 away defeat on 29 January 2012 against Málaga CF, playing as a left midfielder.[5]

On 25 November 2012, Luna was sent off despite being an unused substitute in a 0–4 loss at Atlético Madrid, in which his teammates Federico Fazio and Ivan Rakitić were also dismissed.[6] He spent the second half of the 2012–13 season on loan to Mallorca in his native Balearic Islands,[7] eventually meeting the same fate as with Almería.

Aston Villa

On 20 June 2013, Aston Villa announced the signing of Luna on a three-year deal.[8] He started and scored on his Premier League debut with the club, a 3–1 win at Arsenal on 17 August.[9]

On 5 August 2014, Luna was loaned to Serie A club Hellas Verona F.C. in a season-long loan.[10] In February of the following year, having not made a single appearance, he was loaned to Spezia Calcio in Serie B for the second half of the campaign.[11] In only his second match for his new team, he was sent off in a 3–2 home win over Modena FC.[12]

Eibar

On 9 July 2015, Luna signed a two-year deal with SD Eibar after terminating his contract with Aston Villa.[13] He made his debut for the Basques on 24 August, assisting goals by Adrián and Gonzalo Escalante as they began the new top flight season with a 3–1 win at Granada CF.[14]

Luna and teammate Sergi Enrich apologised in October 2016 when a sex tape involving them and a woman went viral on the Internet.[15]

In popular culture

Aston Villa fans nicknamed Luna 'Tony Moon', a direct translation of his name from Spanish into English. Manager Paul Lambert admitted that he did not understand the nickname.[16]

Luna was referenced in the 19th Jack Reacher novel Personal by Lee Child, an Aston Villa fan.[17] There, character Casey Nice described him as a friend of hers, adding "I call him Tony Moon".[18]

Honours

Sevilla

References

  1. "Barclays Premier League squad numbers 2013/14". Premier League. 16 August 2013. Archived from the original on 21 August 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  2. "Rodri fires Seviila [sic] into raptures". ESPN Soccernet. 15 May 2010. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  3. "Cup glory for Sevilla". ESPN Soccernet. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  4. "Luna jugará en el Almería hasta final de temporada" [Luna will play with Almería until end of season]. Marca (in Spanish). 19 January 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  5. "El Málaga gana y el Sevilla se queja en un derbi espeso" [Málaga wins and Sevilla complains in thick derby]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 29 January 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  6. "Spanish Liga – Atletico put four past Sevilla". Eurosport. 25 November 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  7. "Luna llega cedido" [Luna arrives on loan]. Diario de Mallorca (in Spanish). 9 January 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  8. "Full-back Luna excited to sign for "historic and huge" Villa". Aston Villa F.C. 20 June 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  9. "Arsenal 1–3 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. 17 August 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  10. "Aston Villa: Antonio Luna moves to Verona on a season-long loan". BBC Sport. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  11. "Aston Villa left back Luna joins Spezia on loan". Forza Italian Football. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  12. "Spezia-Modena: 3–2" (in Italian). Modena FC. 22 February 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  13. "El lateral izquierdo Antonio Luna jugará en el Eibar las dos próximas temporadas" [Left back Antonio Luna will play at Eibar for the next two seasons] (in Spanish). SD Eibar. 9 July 2015. Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  14. Egea, Pablo (24 August 2015). "De 'Segunda' al liderato" [From 'Segunda' to the top of the table]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  15. "Antonio Luna and Sergi Enrich apologise after sex video appears". BBC Sport. 6 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  16. "Lambert: Villa fans can nickname 'Tony Moon' what they want if he maintains form". Birmingham Mail. 18 August 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  17. "Exclusive interview with ace author Child in matchday programme". Aston Villa F.C. 15 September 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  18. Child, Lee. Personal (Jack Reacher 19). ISBN 978-0-5930-7382-7. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  19. "Ganó el serio, cayó el alegre" [Serious won, playful lost]. El País (in Spanish). 19 May 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2015.

External links

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