Joyce Francesco Anacoura (born 1 August 1994) is an Italian footballer who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for club

Giugliano Giugliano in Campania (), also known simply as Giugliano, is a city and (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, Italy. A suburb of Naples, as of 2025, it has 124,633 inhabitants, making it the most populated Italian city tha ...

. He also holds Seychellois citizenship as well, making him a

dual citizen Multiple citizenship (or multiple nationality) is a person's legal status in which a person is at the same time recognized by more than one sovereign state, country under its nationality law, nationality and citizenship law as a national or cit ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, the capital of Lombardy, Anacoura began his career as a player of Lombard club

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

in 2004. He left Inter in 2008, when he played for the under-15 team of

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

during the 2008–09 and 2009–10 campaigns. In July 2010 Anacoura was signed by Emiglia-Romagna-based club

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

on a temporary deal. The

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club later bought Anacoura outright, after he managed to appear in 11 games for the ''Primavera'' reserve team of Parma during the 2011–12 season. Alberto Gallinetta was another first choice goalkeeper for the Parma reserve team that season. Both Anacoura and Gallinetta were signed by Serie A champions

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

in a multi-player swap-deal in August 2012 and January 2013 respectively. The transfer agreement saw

Raman Chibsah Yussif Raman Chibsah (born 10 March 1993) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. He represented the Ghana national team. Club career On 17 August 2012, Chibsah moved from Juventus to Parma in a co-ownership deal (swap ...

and Filippo Boniperti join Parma.

Juventus

On 17 August 2012, Anacoura was officially swapped with

on a co-ownership deal. The 50% registration rights of the players were each valued at €750,000 as well as both club retained the half "card". Anacoura signed a 5-year contract with Juventus, but returned to Parma's youth academy immediately. During the 2012–13 season, he served primarily as the backup goalkeeper to Matteo Ferrari who played 7 games) and later to Matteo Cincilla for 8 matches, after his arrival from Inter Milan in January 2013. Anacoura played 8 matches during that season. In June 2013 the co-ownership deal of Anacoura was renewed, but Chibsah was sold outright to Parma in order to finalize his transfer to

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; ) 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 for being the centre of the Ita ...

. On 19 July 2013, along with Juventus youth goalkeeper Federico Gagliardini, they were signed by Italian fourth-tier club, Piedmontese side

Cuneo Cuneo (; ; ; ) is a city and in Piedmont, Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in the south-west of Piedmont, at the confluence of the ri ...

. Anacoura made his first-team and professional debut in the first round of the 2013–14 Coppa Italia Lega Pro. Anacoura was the starting keeper in the league and gave the starting position to Gagliardini in the cup matches. He finished the season with 29 league matches and the single cup start during the

2012–13 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione The 2012–13 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione season was the thirty-fifth football league season of Italian Lega Pro Seconda Divisione since its establishment in 1978, and the fifth since the renaming from Serie C to Lega Pro. It will be divided into ...

and returned to Juventus on 30 June 2014. In June 2014 the co-ownership was also renewed again. On 12 July 2014, Anacoura 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 ...

newcomer

Pro Vercelli Football Club Pro Vercelli 1892, commonly referred to as Pro Vercelli, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Vercelli, Piedmont. The club is mostly renowned as one of the most successful teams in the early football era of Ital ...

on another temporary loan deal; the club also has obtained the option to purchase the player outright following the conclusion of the

2014–15 Serie B The 2014–15 Serie B was the 83rd season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams contested the league: 14 of which returning from the 2013–14 season, 5 of which promoted from Prima Divisione, and three relegated from Serie A. Th ...

season. In January 2015 he was signed by

Pontedera Pontedera (; ) is an Italian comune with a population of 30070, located in the province of Pisa, Tuscany, Central Italy, central Italy. The town is located 20 km (12 miles) from Pisa and 50 km (31 miles) from Florence. It houses the headquarte ...

in another temporary deal. In June 2015 Juventus acquired the remain 50% registration rights of Anacoura from Parma for free. On 22 July 2015, Anacoura joined Lega Pro side

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

on loan from Juventus. In July 2016 Anacoura joined Casertana. On 19 January 2017 he moved to

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

References

External links

AIC profile (data by football.it)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anacoura, Francesco 1994 births Living people Footballers from Milan Italian people of Seychellois descent Naturalized citizens of Seychelles Italian men's footballers Italian expatriate men's footballers Seychellois men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Juventus FC players AC Cuneo 1905 players FC Pro Vercelli 1892 players US Città di Pontedera players Rimini FC 1912 players Casertana FC players SSC Ancona ASD players C.D. Cova da Piedade players C.S. Marítimo players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players US Sestri Levante 1919 players Giugliano Calcio 1928 players Serie C players Liga Portugal 2 players Serie D players Italian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal 21st-century Italian sportsmen