Antonino Ragusa (born 27 March 1990) is an Italian

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 ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club Messina.

Club career

Treviso

Born in Messina, Sicily, Ragusa started his professional career at

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

club

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and '' comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Ven ...

, where he played for ''Allievi Nazionali'' under-17 team in 2006–07 season. In 2008–09 season, despite remained as a member of the under-20 team, Ragusa made his

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie 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 season. It had been ...

debut on 7 February 2009 against

Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

. The club bankrupted at the end of season.

Genoa

In July 2009 Ragusa 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 Cop ...

club

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

along with youngster Thomas Bonotto and Marco Bincoletto. Ragusa was a member of Genoa's under-20 team, the ''Primavera'' (literally: spring). In August 2010 he was loaned to

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest 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. Before the 1978 ...

(Italian third level) club

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, commonly referred to as Salernitana, is an Italian football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recentl ...

with an option to purchase. The club reached the promotion playoffs but losing to

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

in the finals. Ragusa himself was in the starting eleven in the playoffs as wing forward/winger in the 4–3–3/4–2–3–1 formation, to support

Dino Fava Dino Fava Passaro (born 16 March 1977) is an Italian footballer. He plays as a striker for Savoia. Career Fava started his career at Formia in Serie C2. He was signed by S.S.C. Napoli in summer 1996. He was loaned to Acireale of Serie C1 ...

along with

Fabinho Fabinho is a Portuguese given name, a diminutive form of the Portuguese name "little Fábio". Portuguese also has an augmentative form of the name, Fabão, "big Fábio". Brazilian football * Fabinho Santos (born 1973), born ''Fábio José dos San ...

. In June 2011 Salernitana excised the option but Genoa also excised the counter-option for €100,000. At the end of season Salernitana also bankrupted again.

Reggina (loan)

On 27 June 2011 he was transferred to second division club

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are n ...

, initially in co-ownership deal to compensate the signing of Francesco Acerbi. However the deal documented to

Lega Serie B The Lega Nazionale Professionisti B (Italian for National Professionals League B), commonly known as LNPB or Lega B (B League), is the governing body that runs the second tier of professional football competitions in Italy, the Serie B. It was pr ...

on 31 August 2011 along with Matteo D'Alessandro, but Ragusa became a loan deal. He picked no.90 shirt. Despite only half of the appearances as starter under former Salernitana coach Roberto Breda, Ragusa scored 6 goals in late September to October (round 6 to 12). Ragusa started most of the game fixture from October (round 9) to 10 December (round 19), partnering centre forward

Emiliano Bonazzoli Emiliano Bonazzoli (; born 20 January 1979) is a former Italian footballer who played as a striker. Club career Bonazzoli started his career at Brescia. He played his first professional match on 15 May 1997 against Lecce, which his only mat ...

or Fabio Ceravolo in 3–4–1–2 formation (with Simone Missiroli as play-maker) The coach then used him to play as an attacking midfielder/wing forward in 4–2–3–1/4–3–3 formation. Ragusa was out-favoured by Breda in his last two games in charge, with the return of 3–5–2 featuring another forward Alessio Campagnacci to partner with Alessio Viola or Bonazzoli. Despite new coach Angelo Gregucci used 3–4–3 formation in his first game (against Modena), Ragusa remained on the bench. The coach again rotated its starting XI in order to find the best formation. Ragusa returned to starting XI in round 25 and again in round 27, as a right midfielder in 3–5–2 formation. In June 2012 Reggina decided to sign Ragusa in co-ownership deal, however Genoa activated the counter-option that Genoa paid Reggina €50,000.Genoa CFC SpA Report and Accounts on 31 December 2012

Pescara

Ragusa was signed by Serie A club

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...

in a co-ownership deal for €1.5 million on 30 July 2012. On 31 August 2012 he was loaned to Serie B newcomer

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 ...

along with team-mates Riccardo Brosco and Riccardo Maniero. After Pescara relegated, on 30 June 2013 the co-ownership deal was renewed as well as remaining in Pescara. Ragusa became a key player for the club despite they failed to return to Serie A immediately. On 20 June 2014 the co-ownership deal was renewed again.

Genoa return

Ragusa returned to Genoa in a temporary deal in July 2014. However, on 12 September 2014 Ragusa left for another Serie B newcomer

Vicenza Calcio L.R. Vicenza, commonly referred to as Vicenza, is an Italian football club based in Vicenza, Veneto. Founded in 1902 as Associazione del Calcio in Vicenza, they became Lanerossi Vicenza in 1953, then Vicenza Calcio from 1990 to 2018, a year whi ...

from Genoa for €60,000.Genoa C.F.C. S.p.A. ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 31 December 2015
PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A.
(in Italian) In June 2015 Genoa bought back Ragusa for €725,000.

Cesena

On 14 July 2015 Ragusa was signed by

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

for €2.5 million.

Sassuolo

On 26 August 2016 he was signed by

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label= Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known f ...

. He made his debut against his former club

on 28 August. However, he was deemed ineligible by Italian Football Federation, meaning the result was changed from a win for Sassuolo to an automatic 3–0 defeat.

Hellas Verona

On 3 August 2018, Ragusa joined to

club

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85. His ...

on loan until 30 June 2019 with obligatory buy.

Spezia

On 1 September 2019, Ragusa joined

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 cit ...

on loan until 30 June 2020.

Brescia

On 1 October 2020, Ragusa joined

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 ...

on loan with an option to buy.

Lecce

On 29 January 2022, he transferred on a permanent basis to

club Lecce and signed a contract until 30 June 2022.

Messina

On 31 January 2023, Ragusa joined his hometown club Messina in

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 ...

International career

In November 2011 Ragusa received his first national team call-up. That month Ragusa played both rounds of 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification. He was the left winger in the latter game (round 5) against

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

.La Gazzetta dello Sport on 16 November 2011

References

External links

Lega Serie B Profile

FIGC

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ragusa, Antonino 1990 births Sportspeople from Messina Footballers from Sicily Living people Italian footballers Italy under-21 international footballers Association football forwards Serie A players Serie B players Treviso F.B.C. 1993 players Genoa C.F.C. players U.S. Salernitana 1919 players Reggina 1914 players Delfino Pescara 1936 players Ternana Calcio players Hellas Verona F.C. players Spezia Calcio players Brescia Calcio players U.S. Lecce players A.C.R. Messina players