Antonio Luna (footballer)

Antonio Manuel Luna Rodríguez (born 17 March 1991) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Super League Greece club Volos F.C. as a left-back.

This article is about the Spanish footballer. For the Filipino pharmacist and general, see Antonio Luna.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname 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)
Position(s) Left-back
Team information
Current team
 Volos
Number 13
Youth career
Sevilla
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2011 Sevilla B 32 (1)
2010–2013 Sevilla 21 (1)
2011 → Almería (loan) 13 (0)
2013 → Mallorca (loan) 11 (0)
2013–2015 Aston Villa 17 (1)
2014–2015 → Verona (loan) 0 (0)
2015 → Spezia (loan) 4 (0)
2015–2017 Eibar 41 (1)
2017–2020 Levante 39 (0)
2019–2020 → Rayo Vallecano (loan) 21 (0)
2020–2021 Girona 19 (0)
2021–2022 Cartagena 12 (1)
2022– Volos 34 (2)
International career
2007 Spain U16 1 (0)
2009 Spain U18 1 (0)
2009 Spain U19 3 (0)
2011 Spain U20 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:00, 18 August 2023 (UTC)

Formed at Sevilla, where he won the Copa del Rey in his second professional game in 2010, he also represented Almería, Mallorca, Eibar and Levante in La Liga, totalling 125 games. He had one season at Aston Villa in the Premier League, as well as playing in Italy and Greece.

Club career

Sevilla

Born in Son Servera, Mallorca, Luna finished his youth career in Andalusia with Sevilla FC, making his senior debut with the reserves in the Segunda División B. On 15 and 19 May 2010, he appeared in his first two official games with the first team in the absence of the injured Fernando Navarro,[2][3] and both were decisive ones: in the first, he featured 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.[4] The second was a 2–0 victory over Atlético Madrid in the final of the Copa del Rey, again playing the full match.[5]

Luna was loaned to neighbouring Almería on 19 January 2011, until the end of the campaign.[6] He was regularly utilised, 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 2–1 away defeat to Málaga CF on 29 January 2012, playing as a left midfielder.[7]

On 25 November 2012, Luna was sent off despite being an unused substitute in a 4–0 loss at Atlético Madrid, in which his teammates Federico Fazio and Ivan Rakitić were also dismissed.[8] He spent the second half of the 2012–13 season on loan to Mallorca in his native Balearic Islands,[9] 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.[10] He started and scored on his Premier League debut with the club, a 3–1 win at Arsenal on 17 August.[11]

On 5 August 2014, Luna was loaned to Serie A side Hellas Verona F.C. in a season-long loan.[12] 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.[13] In only his second match for his new team, he was sent off in a 3–2 home defeat of Modena FC.[14]

Eibar

Luna signed a two-year deal with SD Eibar on 9 July 2015, after terminating his contract with Aston Villa.[15] He made his debut for the Basques on 24 August, assisting goals by Adrián and Gonzalo Escalante as they began the new top-tier season with a 3–1 away victory against Granada CF.[16]

He totalled 46 appearances in his two seasons at the club, scoring in a 3–2 win at Sporting de Gijón on 15 January 2017.[17]

Levante

On 11 June 2017, Luna joined newly promoted side Levante UD for four years.[18] On 29 August 2019, he was loaned to Segunda División's Rayo Vallecano for one year.[19]

Luna terminated his contract on 29 September 2020.[20]

Girona

On 30 September 2020, Luna agreed to a one-year deal with Girona FC in the second division.[21] A backup to Enric Franquesa,[22] he featured in 21 competitive matches as they missed out promotion in the play-offs.[23]

Cartagena

On 7 July 2021, Luna signed a two-year contract with FC Cartagena also in the second tier.[24] He scored on his debut on 16 August, albeit in a 3–1 home loss to his former club Almería.[25]

With four muscular injuries, Luna played only 13 times for Efesé – four as a starter – while receiving negative attention for his high salary and poor conduct.[26]

Volos

On 16 July 2022, Luna terminated his deal at Cartagena and moved to the third foreign country of his career, signing for Volos F.C. of Super League Greece. His former employers did not make any statement on his exit.[27]

Personal life

In October 2016, Luna and teammate Sergi Enrich apologised when a sex tape involving them and a woman went viral on the Internet.[28] Due to the woman's lack of consent to filming, they were given two-year prison sentences in January 2021, suspended due to their lack of prior criminal records.[29]

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.[30]

Luna was referenced in the 19th Jack Reacher novel Personal by Lee Child, an Aston Villa fan.[31] There, character Casey Nice described him as a friend of hers, adding "I call him Tony Moon".[32]

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. "Antonio Álvarez ensaya con el canterano Luna como titular en el lateral izquierdo" [Antonio Álvarez tries with academy player Luna as starting left-back]. Diario de Sevilla (in Spanish). 13 May 2010. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  3. "Diez años del título más canterano del Sevilla" [Ten years since Sevilla's most academy-made title]. Estadio Deportivo (in Spanish). 19 May 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  4. "Rodri fires Seviila [sic] into raptures". ESPN Soccernet. 15 May 2010. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  5. "Cup glory for Sevilla". ESPN Soccernet. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  6. "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.
  7. "El Málaga gana y el Sevilla se queja en un derbi espeso" [Málaga win and Sevilla complain in thick derby]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 29 January 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  8. "Spanish Liga – Atletico put four past Sevilla". Eurosport. 25 November 2012. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  9. Cabot, Ricard (9 January 2013). "Luna llega cedido" [Luna arrives on loan]. Diario de Mallorca (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  10. "Full-back Luna excited to sign for "historic and huge" Villa". Aston Villa F.C. 20 June 2013. Archived from the original on 22 June 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  11. Ornstein, David (17 August 2013). "Arsenal 1–3 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  12. "Aston Villa: Antonio Luna moves to Verona on a season-long loan". BBC Sport. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  13. "Aston Villa left back Luna joins Spezia on loan". Forza Italian Football. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  14. "Spezia-Modena: 3–2" (in Italian). Modena FC. 22 February 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  15. "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.
  16. Egea, Pablo (24 August 2015). "De 'Segunda' al liderato" [From 'Segunda' to the top of the table]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  17. Pérez, José I. (15 January 2017). "El Eibar hunde al Sporting de Abelardo" [Eibar sink Abelardo's Sporting]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  18. "Antonio Luna se compromete con el Levante por las próximas cuatro temporadas" [Antonio Luna commits to Levante for the following four seasons] (in Spanish). Levante UD. 11 June 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  19. "El Levante UD y el Rayo Vallecano acuerdan la cesión de Antonio Luna" [Levante UD and Rayo Vallecano agree the loan of Antonio Luna] (in Spanish). Levante UD. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  20. "Luna leaves Levante UD". Levante UD. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  21. "El Girona fitxa el defensa Antonio Luna" [Girona sign defender Antonio Luna] (in Catalan). Girona FC. 30 September 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  22. Rosell, Carles (13 January 2021). "Franquesa, de menos a más en el Girona" [Franquesa, from less to more at Girona]. Sport (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  23. "El Cartagena es fixa en Antonio Luna" [Cartagena take notice of Antonio Luna]. Diari de Girona (in Catalan). 5 July 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  24. "Antonio Luna, un lateral izquierdo de Primera para el FC Cartagena" [Antonio Luna, a Primera left-back for FC Cartagena] (in Spanish). FC Cartagena. 7 July 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  25. Prian, Álvaro (16 August 2021). "El Almería presenta desde el primer minuto sus credenciales" [Almería present their credentials from the first minute]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  26. Maya, Alejandro (29 March 2022). "Antonio Luna sufre otra rotura fibrilar y estará en torno a un mes de baja" [Antonio Luna suffers another fibrillar fracture and will be out for around a month] (in Spanish). Cadena SER. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  27. "Luna se marcha al equipo griego del Volos y el Cartagena no se pronuncia" [Luna leaves for Greek team Volos and Cartagena say nothing about it] (in Spanish). Sport Cartagena. 16 July 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  28. "Antonio Luna and Sergi Enrich apologise after sex video appears". BBC Sport. 6 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  29. Carabias, José Carlos (20 January 2021). "Enrich-Luna, condena pionera contra el exhibicionismo en la élite" [Enrich-Luna, landmark sentence against elite exhibitionism]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  30. Kendrick, Mat (18 August 2013). "Lambert: Villa fans can nickname 'Tony Moon' what they want if he maintains form". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  31. "Exclusive interview with ace author Child in matchday programme". Aston Villa F.C. 15 September 2011. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  32. Child, Lee (27 August 2014). Personal (Jack Reacher 19). ISBN 978-0-5930-7382-7. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  33. Besa, Ramón (19 May 2010). "Ganó el serio, cayó el alegre" [Serious won, playful lost]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 September 2015.
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