Antonio Luna (footballer)

Antonio Manuel Luna Rodríguez (born 17 March 1991) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Girona FC as a left back.

This article is about the Spanish footballer. For the Filipino pharmacist and general, see Antonio Luna.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Luna and the second or maternal family name is Rodríguez.
Antonio Luna
Luna playing for Almería in 2011
Personal information
Full name Antonio Manuel Luna Rodríguez[1]
Date of birth (1991-03-17) 17 March 1991
Place of birth Son Servera, Spain
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Left back
Club information
Current team
 Girona
Number 21
Youth career
Sevilla
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2011 Sevilla B 32 (1)
2010–2013 Sevilla 21 (1)
2011 → Almería (loan) 13 (0)
2013 → Mallorca (loan) 11 (0)
2013–2015 Aston Villa 17 (1)
2014–2015 → Verona (loan) 0 (0)
2015 → Spezia (loan) 4 (0)
2015–2017 Eibar 41 (1)
2017–2020 Levante 39 (0)
2019–2020 → Rayo Vallecano (loan) 21 (0)
2020– Girona 13 (0)
National team
2007 Spain U16 1 (0)
2009 Spain U18 1 (0)
2009 Spain U19 3 (0)
2011 Spain U20 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14 December 2020

Formed at Sevilla, he represented four other clubs in La Liga as well as having brief stints in England and Italy.

Club career

Sevilla

Born in Son Servera, Majorca, Luna finished his youth career in Andalusia with Sevilla FC, making his senior debut with the reserve side in Segunda División B. On 15 and 19 May 2010, he appeared in his first two official games with the first team, and both were decisive ones: in the first he played the full 90 minutes as his team won 3–2 away against UD Almería in the last round, finally edging RCD Mallorca for the last qualification position for the UEFA Champions League.[2] The second was a 2–0 victory over Atlético Madrid in the final of the Copa del Rey, again playing the full match.[3]

Luna was loaned to neighbouring Almería on 19 January 2011, until the end of the campaign.[4] He was regularly utilised, as the club suffered top-flight relegation after a four-year stay.

After returning to Sevilla, Luna played 14 league matches in 2011–12, his first full season. He scored his first goal as a professional in a 1–2 away defeat on 29 January 2012 against Málaga CF, playing as a left midfielder.[5]

On 25 November 2012, Luna was sent off despite being an unused substitute in a 4–0 loss at Atlético Madrid, in which his teammates Federico Fazio and Ivan Rakitić were also dismissed.[6] He spent the second half of the 2012–13 season on loan to Mallorca in his native Balearic Islands,[7] eventually meeting the same fate as with Almería.

Aston Villa

On 20 June 2013, Aston Villa announced the signing of Luna on a three-year deal.[8] He started and scored on his Premier League debut with the club, a 3–1 win at Arsenal on 17 August.[9]

On 5 August 2014, Luna was loaned to Serie A club Hellas Verona F.C. in a season-long loan.[10] In February of the following year, having not made a single appearance, he was loaned to Spezia Calcio in Serie B for the second half of the campaign.[11] In only his second match for his new team, he was sent off in a 3–2 home win over Modena FC.[12]

Eibar

Luna signed a two-year deal with SD Eibar on 9 July 2015, after terminating his contract with Aston Villa.[13] He made his debut for the Basques on 24 August, assisting goals by Adrián and Gonzalo Escalante as they began the new top-tier season with a 3–1 away victory against Granada CF.[14]

In October 2016, Luna and teammate Sergi Enrich apologised when a sex tape involving them and a woman went viral on the Internet.[15] He totalled 46 appearances in his two seasons at the club, scoring in a 3–2 win at Sporting de Gijón the following 15 January.[16]

Levante

On 11 June 2017, Luna joined newly promoted side Levante UD for four years.[17] On 29 August 2019, he was loaned to Segunda División's Rayo Vallecano for one year.[18]

Luna terminated his contract on 29 September 2020.[19]

Girona

On 30 September 2020, Luna agreed to a one-year deal with Girona FC in the second division.[20]

Aston Villa fans nicknamed Luna 'Tony Moon', a direct translation of his name from Spanish into English. Manager Paul Lambert admitted that he did not understand the nickname.[21]

Luna was referenced in the 19th Jack Reacher novel Personal by Lee Child, an Aston Villa fan.[22] There, character Casey Nice described him as a friend of hers, adding "I call him Tony Moon".[23]

Honours

Sevilla

References
  1. "Barclays Premier League squad numbers 2013/14". Premier League. 16 August 2013. Archived from the original on 21 August 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  2. "Rodri fires Seviila [sic] into raptures". ESPN Soccernet. 15 May 2010. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  3. "Cup glory for Sevilla". ESPN Soccernet. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  4. "Luna jugará en el Almería hasta final de temporada" [Luna will play with Almería until end of season]. Marca (in Spanish). 19 January 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  5. "El Málaga gana y el Sevilla se queja en un derbi espeso" [Málaga win and Sevilla complain in thick derby]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 29 January 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  6. "Spanish Liga – Atletico put four past Sevilla". Eurosport. 25 November 2012. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  7. Cabot, Ricard (9 January 2013). "Luna llega cedido" [Luna arrives on loan]. Diario de Mallorca (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  8. "Full-back Luna excited to sign for "historic and huge" Villa". Aston Villa F.C. 20 June 2013. Archived from the original on 22 June 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  9. Ornstein, David (17 August 2013). "Arsenal 1–3 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  10. "Aston Villa: Antonio Luna moves to Verona on a season-long loan". BBC Sport. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  11. "Aston Villa left back Luna joins Spezia on loan". Forza Italian Football. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  12. "Spezia-Modena: 3–2" (in Italian). Modena FC. 22 February 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  13. "El lateral izquierdo Antonio Luna jugará en el Eibar las dos próximas temporadas" [Left back Antonio Luna will play at Eibar for the next two seasons] (in Spanish). SD Eibar. 9 July 2015. Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  14. Egea, Pablo (24 August 2015). "De 'Segunda' al liderato" [From 'Segunda' to the top of the table]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  15. "Antonio Luna and Sergi Enrich apologise after sex video appears". BBC Sport. 6 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  16. Pérez, José I. (15 January 2017). "El Eibar hunde al Sporting de Abelardo" [Eibar sink Abelardo's Sporting]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  17. "Antonio Luna se compromete con el Levante por las próximas cuatro temporadas" [Antonio Luna committs to Levante for the following four seasons] (in Spanish). Levante UD. 11 June 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  18. "El Levante UD y el Rayo Vallecano acuerdan la cesión de Antonio Luna" [Levante UD and Rayo Vallecano agree the loan of Antonio Luna] (in Spanish). Levante UD. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  19. "Luna leaves Levante UD". Levante UD. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  20. "El Girona fitxa el defensa Antonio Luna" [Girona sign defender Antonio Luna] (in Catalan). Girona FC. 30 September 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  21. Kendrick, Mat (18 August 2013). "Lambert: Villa fans can nickname 'Tony Moon' what they want if he maintains form". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  22. "Exclusive interview with ace author Child in matchday programme". Aston Villa F.C. 15 September 2011. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  23. Child, Lee (27 August 2014). Personal (Jack Reacher 19). ISBN 978-0-5930-7382-7. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  24. Besa, Ramón (19 May 2010). "Ganó el serio, cayó el alegre" [Serious won, playful lost]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 September 2015.
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