Antonio Croce (born 9 June 1986) 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 lea ...

who plays as a forward for Gelbison.

Career

Vis Pesaro

Born in

Foggia Foggia (, ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere delle Puglie, Tavoliere, also know ...

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

, Croce started his career at

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

club Vis Pesaro and was a member of its Berretti under-20 team. In the next season Croce made his debut in the first team, in

2004–05 Serie C1 The 2004–05 Serie C1 was the twenty-seventh edition of Serie C1, the third highest league in the Italian football league system. Overview Serie C1/A It was contested by 19 teams, and U.S. Cremonese won the championship. It was decided that U ...

. He was spotted by F.C. Internazionale Milano in January 2005. He was the member of Primavera under-20 team, scoring 4 goals in 2005 Torneo di Viareggio, as topscorer (''Premio "Miglior Cannoniere del Torneo"''). Eventually Inter was the fourth. However, he only scored once in the Primavera League. In the playoffs round, Croce was the starting forward along with

Matteo Momentè Matteo Momentè (born 26 February 1987) is an Italian association football, footballer who plays for A.S.D. Cjarlins Muzane, Cjarlins Muzane. Biography Youth career & Inter Born in Jesolo, the Province of Venice, Momentè started his career at ...

. He scored once in the round of 16. In that rebuild season of Inter Primavera, the regular season top-scorer was Matteo Lombardo with 5 goals. and Dino Marino was the playoffs top-scorer of the team with 2 goals only. Inter was eliminated by Empoli in quarter-finals. Inter did not purchase Croce and promoted players from its own youth system instead.

Modena and fell to Serie D

On 31 August 2005, Croce was signed by

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as 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 b ...

club

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) 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 Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

but immediately farmed to Marche club Fermana in a co-ownership deal. In June 2006 Croce was re-signed by Emilia club Modena but he was released to

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

team

Riccione Riccione (; ) is a (municipality) in the Province of Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. Riccione is centred on the Rio Melo, a minor river that flows into the Adriatic Sea. In the decades following the construction of the Bologna–Ancona r ...

. The team also located in Emilia–Romagna region. Croce once again failed to score, with 3 goals. Croce then went to Abruzzo region for Cologna Paese. This time Croce scored 11 goals in 2007–08 Serie D.

Return to Lega Pro 2nd Div.

Croce earned a professional contract from

Padova Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of ...

, in 2008. He played in the pre-season friendlies. In August, he left for Carpenedolo, a

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione Serie C2 was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Serie C. The league menaging ...

team. Finally Croce opened his account in the Italian fourth level, with 7 goals. In the next season he was signed by another fourth level team

Cassino Cassino () is a ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone at the southern end of the region of Lazio. It's the last city of the Valle Latina, Latin Valley. It is located at the foot of Monte Cairo near the confluence of the Gari (river), Gari and ...

, and left the club 6 months before the club was expelled from the league due to financial difficulty. However his new club Pro Vasto faced the same fate. In July 2010, his contract with Padova was terminated by mutual consent, as there is no place for Croce in its

2010–11 Serie B The 2010–11 Serie B (known as the Serie bwin for sponsorship reasons) is the seventy-ninth season since its establishment in 1929, and the first one under the rule of the new Lega Serie B. A total of 22 teams contest the league, 15 of which retu ...

campaign. In 2010–11 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione, Croce was signed by Villacidrese. However Croce faced another relegation. In

2011–12 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione The 2011–12 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione season was the thirty-fourth football league season of Italian Lega Pro Seconda Divisione since its establishment in 1978, and the fourth since the renaming from Serie C to Lega Pro. It was divided into ...

, Croce was signed by

Celano Celano is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of L'Aquila, central Italy, east of Rome by rail. Geography Celano rises on the top of a hill in the territory of Marsica, below the mountain range of Sirente. It faces the valley of Fucino, once ...

. However the team again relegated. In July 2012 Croce was signed by Serie D team

Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...

which the club aimed to promote back to professional league in recent seasons and recently acquired by a new owner. In January 2013 he returned to the fourth level again for

Melfi Melfi ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Vulture area of the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. Geographically, it is midway between Naples and Bari. In 2015 it had a population of 17,768. Geography On a ...

. He became the eldest player of the team suppressing Giancarlo Improta. Both Croce and Improta were the goalscorers of the team.

Return to Serie D

In 2013–14 and 2014–15 season, Croce had played for four Serie D teams, which since 2014–15 season Serie D became the four level again, due to Lega Pro merged their two divisions.

Monopoli

In December 2014 he was signed by another Serie D club

Monopoli Monopoli (; ) is a town and comune, municipality in Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Bari and region of Apulia. The town is roughly in area and lies on the Adriatic Sea about southeast of Bari. It has a population of 49,246 (2014), ...

. On 15 July 2015 Croce renewed his contract with the club. The club won promotion to 2015–16 Lega Pro as a replacement of bankrupted teams on 1 September.

Teramo

In June 2016 Croce was signed by

Teramo Teramo (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Abruzzo, the capital of the province of Teramo. The city, from Rome, is situated between the highest mountains of the Apennines ( Gran Sasso d'Italia) and the Adriatic coast. Th ...

Andria

On 30 January 2017, Croce was transferred to fellow Serie C club

Andria Andria (; Barese: ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Apulia region of Southern Italy. It is an agricultural and service center, producing wine, olives and almonds. It is the fourth-largest municipality in the Apulia region (behind ...

Later career

In July 2018 Croce was signed by Serie D club Gravina.

References

External links

Football.it Profile
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Antonio Croce
at TuttoCampo {{DEFAULTSORT:Croce, Antonio 1986 births Footballers from Foggia Living people Italian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Vis Pesaro dal 1898 players Inter Milan players Fermana FC players Calcio Padova players FC Carpenedolo SSD players ASD Cassino Calcio 1924 players Vastese Calcio 1902 players SS Villacidrese Calcio players ASD Celano Calcio players ACR Messina players AS Melfi players Brindisi FC players SSD Città di Teramo players Fidelis Andria 2018 players Taranto FC 1927 players FC Francavilla players Gelbison Cilento Vallo della Lucania players Serie C players Serie D players 21st-century Italian sportsmen