Mirco Antenucci (born 8 September 1984) is an Italian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for club

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

Club career

Giulianova

Antenucci began his professional career in 2002, with

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football (soccer), football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1 ...

club,

Giulianova Giulianova ( Giuliese: ' ) is a coastal town and ''comune'' in the province of Teramo, Abruzzo region, Italy. The ''comune'' also has city ( it, città) status, thus also known as Città di Giulianova. Geography The town lies in the north of the A ...

, where in two seasons with the club, the young striker managed to make 35 appearances, before spending the 2004–05 season on loan at

Serie C2 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

side,

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

. During his loan spell with the club, Antenucci scored twice in 27 league appearances, before returning to Giulianova in the summer of 2005. In his second tenure with the Teramo-based club, Antenucci scored 12 goals in 57 league matches, over the course of two seasons.

Catania

In July 2007, he was signed by

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

side,

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

, and was loaned to

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

ahead of the 2007–08

campaign. He made 27 league appearances that season, scoring six goals. On 1 July 2008, Antenucci returned to Catania and entered into the first team squad. He made four substitute appearances under, then coach,

Walter Zenga Walter Zenga (; born 28 April 1960) is an Italian manager (association football), football manager and former player who last managed Serie A club Cagliari Calcio, Cagliari. He was a long-time Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for In ...

in the first half of the

2008–09 Serie A The 2008–09 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 107th season of top-tier Italian football, the 77th in a round-robin tournament. It began on 30 August 2008 and ended on 31 May 2009, with the announcement of the ...

season. On 5 January 2009, Mirko Antenucci was sent out on loan to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

club

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

, to gain experience and playing time. During his six-month spell with the Serie B club, Antenucci scored just one goal in 20 league appearances, and the club failed to avoid relegation and also bankrupted. He returned to Catania on 30 June 2009. On 19 August 2009, Catania opted to send Antenucci on another loan deal to

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region **Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

, where he joined fellow Catania loanees Marcello Gazzola and

Vito Falconieri Vito Falconieri (born 18 June 1986) is an Italian footballer who plays for Martina in Eccellenza. Club career Early career Born in Brindisi, Apulia, Falconieri was a player of Torino Calcio's reserve team in 2004–05 season. He also wore no. ...

. Following his transfer to Ascoli, he thrived, earning a regular starting role, and going on to make 40 appearances in the league, scoring an impressive 24 goals, finishing the second top scorer in the whole of

. He only missed two league matches: the first round of the season and once due to suspension. He returned to Catania ahead of the

2010–11 Serie A The 2010–11 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 109th season of top-tier Italian football, the 79th in a round-robin tournament, and the 1st since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie B ...

season. Antenucci did make 14 league appearances for Catania that season, although most of them were off the substitute's bench with

Maxi López Maximiliano Gastón López (born 3 April 1984) is an Argentine former professional association football, footballer who played as a second striker. He holds both an Argentine passport, Argentine and an Italian passport. He is known as ''El Rubio ...

Francesco Lodi Francesco Lodi (born 23 March 1984) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Italian club Catania S.S.D., Catania. He usually plays as a Midfielder#Deep-lying playmaker, deep lying playmaker, and ...

Gonzalo Bergessio Gonzalo Rubén Bergessio (; born 20 July 1984) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Club Atlético Platense. Club career Early career Born in Córdoba, Córdoba Province, Bergessio started his career in the lower ...

and

Takayuki Morimoto is a Japanese professional association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for Taiwan Football Premier League club Taichung Futuro F.C., Taichung Futuro. He holds the record for the youngest Japanese playe ...

competing for places up front. After just one goal in Serie A, Antenucci was sent out on a co-ownership agreement during the January transfer window.

Torino

On 23 January 2011, it was announced that he joined Serie B club

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

in a co-ownership deal. In his first 6-month spell with the club, Antenucci scored 6 goals in his first 19 appearances, before turning in an additional 10 goals in 40 league appearances the following season. Forming a strong strike partnership with

Rolando Bianchi Rolando Bianchi (; born 15 February 1983) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. With 77 total goals, he is Torino's 11th-highest all-time goal scorer. Bianchi was primarily known for his ability in the air. Clu ...

. His efforts helped guide the club to a second-placed finish in the 2011–12 Serie B standings with promotion to

Return to Catania

On 21 June 2012, Catania outbid Torino in a blind auction for the players' co-ownership, and so the 28-year-old returned to Sicily ahead of the 2012–13 Serie A season. After making a substitute appearance in matchday one of the season on 26 August 2012, the player was sent out on loan to

Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

of Serie B, on yet another season-long loan deal, and finished the season with six goals in 33 league matches.

Ternana

Antenucci was sold in a co-ownership deal and loaned to Serie B side Ternana on 20 July 2013, where he was also named

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. He scored his first goal in the first round against

Carpi Carpi may refer to: Places * Carpi, Emilia-Romagna, a large town in the province of Modena, central Italy * Carpi (Africa), a city and former diocese of Roman Africa, now a Latin Catholic titular bishopric People * Carpi (people), an ancie ...

, a penalty kick. The following game he scored against

Cittadella Cittadella ( vec, Sitadeła) is a medieval walled city in the province of Padua, northern Italy, founded in the 13th century as a military outpost of Padua. The surrounding wall has been restored and is in circumference with a diameter of around ...

with a goal in a 2–2 draw. Antenucci also scored on the fifth, sixth and ninth day respectively against

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

and

Virtus Lanciano S.S. Virtus Lanciano 1924 is an Italian association football club, based in Lanciano, Abruzzo. It last played in Serie B in 2015–16 as Virtus Lanciano. Virtus Lanciano now competes in youth football only. History The club was founded in ...

. After one win in nine games,

Ternana Ternana Calcio, commonly referred to as Ternana, is an Italian football club based in Terni, Umbria. The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana has twice played in Serie A (in the 1972–73 and 1974–75 seas ...

found themselves in the relegation zone. He scored a brace during a resounding 5–0 victory over

Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is ...

and the next week, repeated the feat with another brace against

Crotone Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages until ...

. In the first half of the season, Antenucci had scored nine goals in 21 games. In the second round, the Terni technical changes, passing the leadership in the hands of

Attilio Tesser Attilio Tesser (born 10 June 1958) is an Italian association football manager and former defender, who is currently the head coach of Modena. Playing career Tesser, a defender, started his playing career with Treviso. He moved to Napoli in 197 ...

. Antenucci begins with a bang, the second round, scoring six goals in eleven games, which helped Ternana to remain undefeated for twelve games. On 5 April 2013, he missed his second penalty of the season (the first against

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

) and again against

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and ''comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. History Cesena was o ...

, the defeat saw the end of Ternana's undefeated spell of 12 games. He returned to goal scoring form on the 36th day, in a 3–3 draw against

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

and repeated his goal scoring form in subsequent games against

and

Padova Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

respectively. His goal against Spezia in a 2–2 draw on 22 March 2014, where he controlled a ball on his chest before striking a bicycle kick, was awarded by The News Strip as ''Goal of The Year''. ''Sky Sport Italia'' voted the goal second place for Goal of the Season behind

Paul Pogba Paul Labile Pogba (born 15 March 1993) is a French professional footballer who plays for club Juventus and the France national team. He operates primarily as a central midfielder, but can be deployed as a left winger, attacking midfielder, de ...

's strike for

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

against

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. After scoring 19 goals in 40 Serie B appearances for the ''rossoverde,'' he finished the fifth top scorer in Serie B for the 2013–14 season helping Ternana avoid relegation with a 16th-placed finish. His contract was redeemed by the

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

n club upon the conclusion of the co-ownership agreement on 20 June 2014, for an undisclosed fee.

Leeds United

2014–15 season

On 19 August 2014, it was reported that Leeds United had agreed a deal with the Ternana first-team

to join the club. It was confirmed on 20 August 2014 via the player's own

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account that he had joined Leeds. On Saturday 23 August, Antenucci made his Leeds debut against

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

in a 4–1 defeat. Antenucci made his home debut at

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

on 30 August against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. On 16 September 2014, he scored his first league goal for Leeds against

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

in a 3–1 win. Antenucci finished the 2014–15 season as top scorer for Leeds with 10 league goals. On 2 July 2015, Antenucci's agent Silvio Pagliari revealed that Antenucci and Giuseppe Bellusci would be staying at Leeds and that owner

Massimo Cellino Massimo Cellino (; born 28 July 1956) is an Italian entrepreneur and football club owner. Through his family trust Eleonora Sport Ltd he is the owner of Italian club Brescia Calcio, and is the former owner of italian club Cagliari, and English cl ...

said both players were going to be important players for the 2015–16 season.

2015–16 season

On 31 July 2015, Antenucci was given his favoured squad number 7 for the upcoming 2015–16 season. On 8 August 2015, on the opening day of the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

season, Antenucci started the game on the bench against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

but came on a substitute and scored a stunning left footed strike to put Leeds 1–0 up in a match that finished as a 1–1 draw. On 12 August 2015, Antenucci scored a penalty in a penalty shootout against

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

in the League Cup, with Leeds losing 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw. On 19 April, Antenucci was nominated for the Leeds United player of the year award, alongside Charlie Taylor,

Liam Bridcutt Liam Robert Bridcutt (born 8 May 1989) is a professional association football, footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Blackpool F.C., Blackpool. Born in England, he represented the Scotland national football team, Scotland national t ...

Gaetano Berardi Gaetano Michel Berardi (born 21 August 1988) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a defender for Swiss club AC Bellinzona. He can also operate at left-back and centre-back. He has been capped at international level by Switzerland. ...

and Lewis Cook. The award was won by Taylor on 30 April. Antenucci finished the 2015–16 season as Leeds' second top goal scorer with 9 goals behind Chris Wood who scored 13. On 7 May 2016, Antenucci revealed in a post on his official

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account that he would be leaving Leeds.

SPAL

On 30 June 2016, Antenucci joined

side

S.P.A.L. Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, commonly known as S.P.A.L. (), is a professional football club based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The team plays in Serie B, the second tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in 1907, since ...

on a free transfer from Leeds. On 15 August 2016, Antenucci scored on his debut for

against

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

in a 5–1 defeat in the Coppa Italia Cup. He scored 18 goals in his first season at the club and finished the third top scorer in Serie B behind top scorer

Giampaolo Pazzini Giampaolo Pazzini (; born 2 August 1984), nicknamed ''Il Pazzo'' ("The Madman") after his surname, is a former Italian professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent most of his career in Serie A with Atalanta, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, ...

(23 goals) and runner up Fabio Ceravolo (21 goals). His goals proved to be crucial as S.P.A.L. gained promotion to

for the first time in 49 years by winning

despite only being promoted to Serie B for the first time since 1992–93. During the 2017–18 season in Serie A he scored 11 times in 33 games, to help the club successfully retain their status in Serie A. The following season ended in similar fashion, with Spal successfully avoiding relegation and Antenucci scoring 5 goals in 35 appearances.

Bari

In July 2019 he moved to

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

newcomers

on a permanent basis.

International career

In 2002, Antenucci represented Italy U-20 C1 before then representing Italy U-21 C1 Italy Lega Pro in 2003. In 2005, Antenucci won gold representing Italy, in the

2005 Summer Universiade The 2005 Summer Universiade, also known as the XXIII Summer Universiade, took place in İzmir, Turkey, in August. Emblem The emblem is the letter “U”, inspired by the bird's-eye view of the Gulf of İzmir. This shape has perfectly fit the lett ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. With Italy winning the Gold medal beating Japan in the Summer Universiade Men's Football final.

Career statistics

Honours

SPAL *

: 2016–17 Bari *

: 2021–22 (Group C)

References

External links

Football.it Profile

Catania Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antenucci, Mirco 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from the Province of Campobasso Footballers from Molise Italian footballers Association football forwards Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Giulianova Calcio players A.C. Ancona players Catania S.S.D. players Venezia F.C. players Pisa S.C. players Ascoli Calcio 1898 F.C. players Torino F.C. players Spezia Calcio players Ternana Calcio players S.P.A.L. players S.S.C. Bari players English Football League players Leeds United F.C. players Italian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Italian expatriate footballers