Anthony Stavros Ricca (; born 3 March 1986), most known as Antonis Rikka, is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

former 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 lea ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Club career

Marseille

Born in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, France, Rikka started his career in the city's biggest club,

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

Skoda Xanthi

After not being able to establish himself at Marseille, Rikka was released and joined

Skoda Xanthi Xanthi Football Club () is a Greek Association football, football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace. They play their home matches at Skoda Xanthi Arena Founded in 1967, Xanthi is well set up in terms of their financial support and youth set ...

on 4 February 2006, making 4 appearances until the end of the season. Then, he joined on loan

Niki Volos Niki Volos Football Club () is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Volos, in the region of Magnesia, Greece. The club currently competes in the Super League 2, the second tier of Greek football. History Niki Volos was fou ...

, a

Beta Ethniki The Football League () was the second highest professional football league in Greece since its inception in 1962 as ''Beta Ethniki'' and until 2019. It then served as a third tier after the creation of the Super League 2 as the new second tier ...

team, in order to gain more experiences. He stayed with them for the 2006–07 season, participating in 29 league games. Although his team finished last and relegated, his performances were good enough to make the Skoda Xanthi coach

Emilio Ferrera Emilio Ferrera (born 19 June 1967) is a Belgian football manager and former player, who manages the U21 squad of Gent. His last former club was OH Leuven in the Belgian First Division B. Before he also worked at Genk, where he was fired after ...

trust him with a place in the following year's squad. Rikka grabbed the opportunity and having played 23 league games was one of the team's best players.

AEK Athens

On 16 May 2008, Rikka signed a five-year contract for

Greek Super League The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

runners-up side

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

for €600,000, but did not manage to impress AEK's trainers in his first season and managed only three appearances, due to a serious injury. After two consecutive seasons on loan, he returned to AEK.

Loan to Olympiakos Volos

On 1 June 2010, Rikka joined

Olympiacos Volos Olympiacos Volos Football Club () is a Greek football club based in the city of Volos. History In 1938 Olympiacos achieves the biggest distinction made from a provincial team at the time, succeeding to enter the final eight in Greek Football Cup. ...

on loan for one season.

Loan to Kerkyra

On 16 January 2011, Rikka joined

Kerkyra Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is admin ...

on loan until the end of the season.

Second stint in AEK

In August 2011, Rikka returned to AEK Athens, but he was not at Jimenez plans. When Kostenoglou took charge in AEK, he considered his senior squad and he finally decided to keep Rikka. On 19 November, he came on as a second-half substitute against

Asteras Tripolis Asteras Tripolis Football Club (), currently known as Asteras AKTOR for sponsorship reasons, commonly referred to as Asteras, is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Tripoli in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Asteras Tripolis ...

and he made a comeback. In that whole season, Rikka made 13 appearances.

Red Star

On 4 July 2013, Rikka joined

Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. ...

after his contract with AEK was terminated.

Football League (Greece)

In 2014, he played in the Football League for Aiginiakos and then AO Chania.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rikka, Antonis Living people 1986 births Footballers from Marseille Men's association football midfielders Greek men's footballers Greek expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France French people of Greek descent Super League Greece players Championnat National players Olympique de Marseille players Xanthi F.C. players Niki Volos F.C. players AEK Athens F.C. players Olympiacos Volos F.C. players AO Chania F.C. players A.O. Kerkyra players Red Star FC players 21st-century Greek sportsmen