Antonino Asta

Antonino Asta (Italian pronunciation: [antoˈniːno ˈasta]; born 17 November 1970) is an Italian football manager and former football player.

Antonino Asta
Personal information
Full name Antonino Asta
Date of birth (1970-11-17) 17 November 1970
Place of birth Alcamo, Italy
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1984–1985 Aldini U.N.E.S.
1985–1988 Seguro S.Giorgio
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1991 Corbetta 63 (11)
1991–1992 Abbiategrasso 25 (1)
1992–1995 Saronno 91 (17)
1995–1997 Monza 60 (7)
1997–2000 Torino 73 (3)
2000 Napoli 15 (2)
2000–2002 Torino 55 (4)
2002–2004 Palermo 24 (3)
National team
2002 Italy 1 (0)
Teams managed
2005–2007 Torino (Allievi Regionali)
2007–2009 Torino (Nazionali)
2009–2012 Torino (Primavera)
2012–2014 Monza
2014–2015 Bassano Virtus
2015 Lecce
2016–2017 FeralpiSalò
2017–2018 Teramo
2018–2019 Pistoiese
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He played as a right winger during his career, although he was a versatile player capable of playing anywhere in midfield. As a player, he was mainly known for his speed, work-rate, tactical intelligence, and leadership.[1]

Club career

Asta, a midfielder, played mostly at the amateur level in his early footballing years, also working as a bartender.[1] During the 1994–95 season, played with Saronno, was his first one in a professional league (Serie C2). He then played for Monza of Serie C1; in 1997, Asta signed for Torino of Serie B, where he became a fan favourite, eventually becoming the team's captain during his time with the club; he helped his team to obtain a Serie A promotion in 1999. In January 2000, Asta was sent on loan to Napoli of Serie B, helping the club to gain promotion to Serie A; the following season, he led Torino to Serie A promotion, winning the Serie B title with the club.[1]

During the 2001–02 Serie A season, Antonino Asta impressed many football pundits with his performances, captaining Torino to place in the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup, and making 25 appearances with the team, despite picking up an injury in the Derby della mole return leg against local rivals and eventual Serie A champions Juventus, after being tackled harshly by Edgar Davids.[1] As a result, Italy national football team head coach Giovanni Trapattoni called him up to the national side, and gave him his debut during a pre-World Cup friendly match against U.S.A., in Catania, on 13 February 2002, which Italy won 1–0, with a goal from Alessandro Del Piero; this was his only appearance for Italy.[1][2][3][4]

For the 2002–03 season, after his contract with Torino had expired, ambitious Serie B club Palermo signed him on a free transfer; Asta, a key player for the team, however experienced a serious ankle injury during the last league match of the season, against Lecce, and did not manage to recover, missing out on Palermo's defeat in the Serie A play-off match, as they finished the season in fourth place. He retired in 2004, after Palermo won the Serie B title, winning promotion to Serie A the following season, despite failing to make an appearance throughout the season due to his injury.[1]

Managerial career

In the summer of 2005, he embarked on a career as a manager, starting with the Allievi Regionali of the Torino youth after the club's bankruptcy.

The next season, he was confirmed as manager of the same youth category, while in the 2007–08 season he was promoted to manager of the Allievi Nazionali. He remained at the helm of the Allievi Nazionali for the 2008–09 season, reaching the final round, but eliminated in the round before the final.

For the 2009–10 season he was promoted to head of the Torino Primavera. Early in the season, in Siena–Torino (3–0), he was sent-off after just a minute of the game.[5] The season ended with a mid-table finish.

He continued with the Primavera for the 2010–11 season, finishing fourth place in the standings and participated in the Final Eight, where Torino was defeated in the quarter-finals by Inter Milan on penalties. In 2011–2012 he brought the Primavera to second place in the group behind Juventus, but lost the first game of the Final Eight for the Scudetto against Lazio.

On 29 June 2012 he became the coach of Monza in Lega Pro Seconda Divisione, the team in which he played for two years between 1995 and 1997. Although the team had a six-point penalty, he led Monza to a fifth place in the league and a place in the playoffs; without the penalty points his team would have won the division. Here, Monza eliminated Bassano Virtus in the semifinals, but was eliminated in the final by Venezia.

On 23 June 2014 he was appointed new head coach of Bassano Virtus in the Italian third tier.[6] He left the club one year later in June 2015.

On 6 July 2015 he was named successor of Alberto Bollini as head coach of U.S. Lecce. He was sacked in October 2015.

On 23 October 2018 he was appointed head coach of Serie C club Pistoiese.[7]

Honours

Club
Torino
Palermo

References
  1. "La meteora di Tonino il barista dalla Nazionale al licenziamento". repubblica.it (in Italian). La Repubblica. 31 January 2004. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  2. Alberto Costa; Fabio Monti (13 February 2002). "Italia nuova, Trap lancia Asta e Di Vaio". corriere.it (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  3. Stefano Boldrini (15 February 2002). "Marazzina oltre l' azzurro: "Sogno la Roma"". gazzetta.it (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  4. "Nazionale in cifre: Asta, Antonino". figc.it (in Italian). FIGC. Archived from the original on 12 July 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  5. Calcio, primavera: espulsione record per allenatore Toro Asta Repubblica.it
  6. "Ufficiale: Asta nuovo Responsabile Tecnico della Prima Squadra" (in Italian). Bassano Virtus. 23 June 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  7. "Esonerati Indiani e Fiasconi. Il nuovo allenatore è Antonino Asta, il vice Alberto Nardi" [Indians and Fiasconi dismissed. The new coach is Antonino Asta, the deputy Alberto Nardi] (in Italian). Pistoiese. 23 October 2018. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.

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