Luca Anania (born 21 June 1980 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 ...

) is a retired Italian

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 ...

Career

Anania started his career at hometown giant

Internazionale 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 football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...

. He was loaned to Serie C1 side

Lecco Lecco (, , ; ) is a city of approximately 47,000 inhabitants in Lombardy, Northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di Lecco''). The Bergamasqu ...

then sold to Serie C2 side Pro Sesto along with Marco D'Adda in co-ownership, for a peppercorn of 1 million lire (€516).FC Internazionale Milano SpA ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2001
PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A.
In June 2001, Pro Sesto acquired D'Adda outright and renewed the co-ownership deal of Anania. Anania remained in

Sesto San Giovanni Sesto San Giovanni (; , ), locally referred to as just Sesto (), is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan, in the Italian region of Lombardy. It was awarded with the honorary title of ''città'' (city) by decree of 10 Apri ...

for first half of the season, joined along with Alonso Piola who loaned to the club from Inter in September. But after nil league appearance, he left for

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 loan, which is his first club outside

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

region. In June 2002, Anania was bought back by Inter and sold to

Avellino Avellino () is a city and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

in another co-ownership deal, and sent other players to Pro Sesto. He worked as the backup of

Domenico Cecere Domenico Cecere (14 December 1972 – 2 April 2023), was an Italian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career Revealed by Napoli, Cecere played for several Italian football teams, especially in Serie B and Serie C1. He made 14 ...

. In June 2003, he was signed outright by

Serie C1 Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Se ...

Group B champion. After played 9 league matches for

at Serie B, he was signed by Serie A side

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

in July 2004 where he worked as the understudy of Vincenzo Sicignano and made his Serie A debut on the opening match against

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

, replaced Sicignano in the 61st minutes. The match ended in 2–2 draw after

Valeri Bojinov Valeri Emilov Bojinov (, ; born 15 February 1986) is a retired Bulgarian professional footballer. Throughout his career, Bojinov has played for eighteen different clubs during his various spells in Italy, as well as in England, Portugal, Bulg ...

scored the equalized goal in the 76th minutes. After the club signed

Francesco Benussi Francesco Benussi (born 15 October 1981) is a retired football in Italy, Italian footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Club career Venezia Benussi started his career at A.C. Venezia, Venezia, After he made hi ...

, Anania joined Serie B side

Catanzaro Catanzaro (; or ; ), also known as the "City of the two Seas" (), is an Italian city of 86,183 inhabitants (2020), the capital of the Calabria region and of its province and the second most populated comune of the region, behind Reggio Calabr ...

but the club went bankrupt at the end of season. In 2006–07 season he joined Serie C1 side

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and a ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the province of Grosseto and the main city of the Maremma region. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the ...

and competed with Angelo Pagotto for first choice. On 1 February 2007 he left for

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 ...

along with midfielder Manuel Scalise and Pagotto to

Crotone Crotone (; ; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( or ; ), it became a great Greek city, home of the renowned mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras amongst other famous citizens, and one ...

after the club signed keeper

Salvatore Pinna Salvatore Pinna (born 23 August 1975) is an Italians, Italian Association football, football coach and a former Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper who works as a technical coach with SEF Torres 1903, Torres. External links

* * ...

. In 2007–08 season he joined Serie C1 side Pro Patria from Lecce. He was the regular of the team and entered the promotion playoffs in 2009. But all 4 playoffs were played by his understudy Marco Giambruno and lost to

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 the final return leg. After the club signed

Nicholas Caglioni Nicholas Caglioni (born 14 January 1983) is an Italian football goalkeeper. Career Formerly a Serie A player for Messina with a total 11 appearances in the Italian top flight, Caglioni was banned from football for two years after he was found po ...

, on 1 August 2009, Anania left for fellow third division club

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

which also played in 2008–09 season promotion playoffs but lost to Padova in first round/semi-final. And Ravenna also moved from Group A to Group B by

Lega Pro The Lega Italiano Calcio Professionistico (Italian for Professional Football Italian League), commonly known as Lega Pro (Pro League), is the governing body that runs the third tier of professional football competitions in Italy, the Serie C. I ...

. Anania was the regular for the

Emilia–Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 million. Emilia-Romagna is one of ...

side but both Ravenna and Pro Patria were slipped to relegation zone and eventually Pro Patria relegated.

Honours

;Avellino *

: 2002–03 ;Grosseto *

: 2006–07

References

External links

* *
Profile at AIC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anania, Luca 1980 births Living people Footballers from Milan Men's association football goalkeepers Italian men's footballers Serie A players Serie B players Calcio Lecco 1912 players Pro Sesto 1913 players FC Pro Vercelli 1892 players US Avellino 1912 players US Lecce players US Catanzaro 1929 players US Grosseto 1912 players AC Pavia 1911 SSD players Aurora Pro Patria 1919 players Ravenna FC players Delfino Pescara 1936 players Calcio Padova players US Livorno 1915 players 21st-century Italian sportsmen