Antonio Candreva Biography

Maybe you are one of those football fans who have heard less of Antonio Candreva. The fact that a footballer is rarely seen does not mean that he is not a world-class player, but it may be because he has always tried to stay away from the sidelines. Antonio Candreva started playing football at a young age. He was born in Italy and has not played for any non-Italian team to date. He may be considered by many to be an unlucky player, having spent most of his career on loan at various teams who refused to buy him permanently.

In any case, he is a qualified talented player who has tried his best to show his perfect performance in every team despite the adversities. Let's move forward to have an in-depth look at the personal and professional life of Antonio Candreva. 

All You Need to Know About Antonio Candreva Biography

The 34-year-old Italian winger started his club career with

in 2004 and stayed there until 2007. He later joined

and stayed there until 2012 when he was loaned out to

,

,

, and Cesena. He was afterward sold to

, where he won the Italian Cup in his opening season with the team. Then, he joined

in 2016. Internationally, he represented Italy at the 2008 Summer Olympics, the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup (bronze medal), the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and the 2016 UEFA Euro. Keep reading to learn more about 

Antonio Candreva life story.

Antonio Candreva information

In the following part of A

ntonio Candreva Biography

, you can find some general information about him listed down here.

Antonio Candreva Bio

• Full Name:

   Antonio Candreva

• Nickname

  : none

• Profession

  : Professional Football Player

Antonio Candreva  Physical Stats

• Weight

  : 72 Kilograms

• Height

  : 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)

• Eye Color:

  Black

• Hair Color

  : Black

Antonio Candreva  Football Information

• Position

  : Right midfielder, right-winger

• Jersey Number

  : 87

• Professional Debut:

  2004

Antonio Candreva Date of Birth and Personal Info

• Date of Birth

  : 28 February 1987

• Birth Place:

  Rome, Italy

• Zodiac Sign

  : Pisces

• Antonio Candreva Nationality

  : Italian

• Antonio Candreva Religion

  : not-specified

Antonio Candreva Early Life

In this section of

Antonio Candreva Biography

, we will have a glance at his early life. Antonio started his amateur football in  A.S. Lodigiani that was an Italian football club based in Rome, Italy, and was notable for its youth products. He then in 2003 moved to Serie C1 team Ternana, and there he could participate in several games for the first team while they were promoted to Serie B for the 2004–05 season. Unluckily, they soon relegated back to Serie C1 the following season. But this setback was in his favor. He was promoted and became a regular in the squad and attracted the interest of various Serie A clubs. He spent three years with Ternana, between 2004-2007, and then continued his professional career in one of the Serie A sides. 

Antonio Candreva Profile

In this division of Antonio Candreva Biography, we will review his professional career from his early days until now that he is indeed one of the greatest wingers in football history. Following his departure from Ternana, in June 2007 he signed his debut Serie A contract with Serie A club Udinese. There he could play for their Primavera team as an overage player. After some months, on 27 January 2008, he made his Serie A debut in a match against his future side, Inter Milan. He only spent one spell with his first Serie A team and after playing in three matches, Antonio who was 21 at the time, was loaned out to Serie B  Livorno for the 2008–09 season. In his new team, he was given the chance to play alongside Alessandro Diamanti who plays as a midfielder.

Thanks to their cooperation and contribution, Livorno recover promotion to Serie A as playoff winners. His debut season with the Tuscan spent successfully so the loan agreement between Udinese and Livorno was consequently extended to one more year,  allowing Candreva to play a full season as a regular in the Italian top-level league. As his extended contract with Livorno finished, on 20 January 2010, it was officiated that Juventus had signed Candreva on loan for the rest of the season, for €500,000 if only Juventus having an option to buy half of his contract from Udinese at the end of the season.

So he started his professional football career at Juventus. He made his Juventus debut match on Jan 23, 2010. It was a lost game against AS

that Candreva only played for fourteen minutes as he came in as the 76th substitute. Unlike his debut, in the next two matches against Lazio and Livorno, he could play full time. Till Feb 21, 2010, he didn't score any goal for Juventus. On that day in a match against

, as the 63rd minutes' substitute for Diego, he entered the game and almost ten minutes after he could score his Juve debut goal.

He sat on the bench in the Second Round 1st leg European competitions in the Europa League against

on Feb 18, 2010, but succeeded in the second leg. A few days after his debut goal, on Feb 25, 2010, he made his debut in European competitions in the Europa League, in the second leg of the club's round of 32 fixture against Ajax. Again in that match, he came as the substitute of captain Alessandro Del Piero.  At the end of the 2009–10 season, unluckily, Juventus decided not to use their right to sign him permanently so Candreva had to return to Udinese in the summer.

After his separation from Juventus, Antonito's situation did not go well. On 31 August 2010, he signed his new Serie A contract with Parma on a one-year loan deal, for €500,000. On Sep 12, 2010, he made his Parma debut in a 2-1 lost match against Catania as the 62nd substitute. He couldn't play full time for Parma till Nov 7, 2010, in a match against

. A week later, on 14 November 2010, in a match against Bari, he managed to score his Parma debut goal. As his loan contract with Parma finished, although the side had the option to buy Candreva in a co-ownership deal, they finally declined to do so.

His next side was Cesena. On 21 July 2011, he signed Cesena on an initial one-year loan deal that cost the club €300,000. After some months, he could play in his debut match on Sep 10, 2011, against Napoli. The match ended 1-3 and Candreva could play full time. Until October he couldn't score his debut goal, so on Oct 26, 2011, in a game against

Calcio, he finally scored his debut goal. He remained with Cesena till the early months of 2012 and later on, all over again changed his side. On the last day of the January 2012 transfer window, Candreva signed his free loan deal with Lazio, and in return, Simone Del Nero from Lazio signed his free loan contract with Cesena. His debut Serie A competition for Lazio came on in a 2-0 win match against

on Feb 1, 2012. In his first match, he could only play three minutes as he came in as the 87th substitute.

Gradually he could establish himself in the team's arrangement and on Feb 19, 2012, a week after his debut, he played the full 90 minutes. Almost three months after his commencement, on 7 April 2012, Candreva scored his first goal for Lazio against Napoli in the 2011–12 season, in a 3–1 home victory. As his loan-spell terminated, on 18 July 2012, the temporary deal was renewed for free with a choice to buy. In 2012 the head coach of Lazio was changed. Vladimir Petković became the new head coach for the 2012–13 season. With the presence of this new coach, Antonio managed to become popular both at the club and among the fans. After renewing his contract, he managed to score his first goal of the 2012–2013 season in a 3–0 win match against Palermo on 2 September 2012, following Miroslav Klose's 2 goals.

On 26 May 2013, following a 1-0 victory in a historic derby against Roma, he won his first professional trophy, the Coppa Italia title in 2012. Candreva in the 71st minute of the Copa final Italy helped Sanad Lulic to score the match-winning goal. Afterward, in June 2013, Lazio used the option to buy Candreva in a € 1.7 million joint ownership agreement on a four-year contract. Later on, in October 2013, Candreva added another year to his deal. Finally, on 14 June 2014, Lazio bought Candreva for another € 4 million, thus paying a total of € 5.7 million to Udinese. 

As his contract with Lazio finished in 2016, on 3 August, Candrova signed his four-year contract with Inter Milan for € 22 million, plus the reported bonus. Ten days after his agreement, on 13 August, Candrova made his unofficial debut game which was a warm-up play against Celtic during the Champions League. In that match, he could play the last thirty minutes of the game as he came on as the 60th-minute substitution and ten minutes later he managed to score his first goal in a 2-0 victory for the team. Then, on Aug 21, 2016, he could play in his Serie A debut match against Chievo Verona as the 61st-minute substitution. Only a week later, on 28 Aug 2016, Candreva could score his first Inter goal in a draw match against  

.

In the following month, on Sep 15, 2016, he was selected to play in his debut Europa League match against

which at the end his side went over to their Israeli rival. Afterward, he could score his first Europa League goal which was the only goal of the match, for a 1–0 home win against

on 20 October.  Having spent almost three years with the Milan side, on 29 October 2019, he could make his 100th Serie A appearance for Inter in the 2–1 away win over 

 in 2019–20 Serie A. Despite relatively good conditions at Inter, he left the team in September 2020, he signed with

on loan with a commitment to make the deal permanent. Stay tuned to read more about

Antonio Candreva Biography 

and get to know him better.

Style of Play

Antonio Candreva is well-known as a dynamic, tenacious, physical, and well-rounded footballer also his pace, eye for goal, stamina, consistency, and work-rate enable him to cover the flank effectively. Some may know him as a gifted player with vision and creativity. He is a player who is so accurate in passing, good distribution. He is also famous for his superb crossing technique and set-piece delivery, enabling him to create opportunities and provide several assists for teammates by good technical ability, ball control, and dribbling skills.

He is famous for his talent to get forward and possesses a powerful, accurate long-range shot with either foot, besides, his free-kick and penalty are  accurate and powerful.  He was naturally a right-footed footballer, however, he can be deployed in various midfield positions that he is versatile, although he usually plays either in a central role as an attacking midfielder or more commonly in the position of a traditional winger on the right side of the pitch. Before he played as a forward, he can perform on the left, and has also been used as a wing-back or full-back, as a second striker, as a central or box-to-box midfielder, as a mezzala (literally "half-winger" in Italian), or yet in a deeper role in front of the back-line, thanks to his defensive work-rate and tactical awareness. Besides his usual duties, he can sometimes be deployed as a false-attacking midfielder.

Reception

Generally, Antonio Candreva is described as a player who is hard to ignore that he could have so much influence on the team. His experiences and versatility may give him the advantage over other players whether Italian or not. According to Football Italia, Candreva is a precocious talent with the ability to score, create and perform a variety of roles across the midfield and he would certainly enjoy the chance to leave a few more goalkeepers red-faced on the world  As beinsport described him, Candreva is a player who isn’t scared to take a risk, a player who wants the ball, and is a player who, as he proved in Split with his Panenka, can handle the pressure.

Goal Celebration

This good-natured Italian player doesn't have any specific goal celebration, but occasionally, after scoring a goal he sents a kiss towards spectators or he puts his hands behind his ears as if he wants to hear the cheers of the spectators.

Antonio Candreva Outside Football

Unfortunately, there is no information about Antonio's miscellaneous activities. The only available data is that his wealth in 2020 was between $ 1 Million and $ 5 Million. With this asset, he is considered one of the richest players in the world. In this regard, it should be mentioned that he has also appeared in the FIFA games series. Stay tuned as we take a look at

Antonio Candreva biography

to have a better view of his personal life.

Antonio Candreva Personal Life

Antonio Candreva was born on  28 February 1987 in  Rome, Italy to parents Marcello Candreva and Maria Antonietta Candreva.

Antonio Candreva childhood

was spent in Tor de’ Cenci, Italy, along with Sara Candreva. Also, he is of Arbëresh race as his grandfather, referring to the fact that his father's side is from the Arbëreshë village of Falconara Albanese in Cosenza.

Family, Children, and Relationships

Unlike so many famous footballers, it seems that Candreva likes to keep his personal life private, so there isn't much available information. It's been years that Antonio Candreva has been married to Allegra Luna. As the fruits of the marriage, the couple has a beautiful son named Raoul, who was born on November 16, 2018. This couple last year at the time of CornoVirus lockdown started a challenge that went viral. According to besoccer.com Inter Milan player Antonio Candreva made the most of the confinement period to do romantic training sessions with his partner Allegra Luna. 

The celebrity couple have become one of the most followed during the confinement because of the coronavirus crisis, as they don't stop uploading videos doing exercises together. The peculiarity is that all of them end in the same way: with a romantic kiss at the end. "Kiss training never stops" can be read on the social media of both the player and the well-known model, who have already christened the exercises 'kiss training'. Also, it's worth mentioning that Before marrying Luna, Antonia had previously married Valentina Bianchifuri but divorced in 2013 because of unresolvable differences. Though, he also has a daughter named Bianca Candreva with his former wife.

Philanthropy

The 34-year-old Italian player is one of the footballers who is very active in charity. Among his good deeds, first of all, we should mention his beautiful act during his time at Inter Milan. According to Sunday Times, Inter Milan star Antonio Candreva came forward after he learned the eight-year-old child was in tears when she was forced to eat tuna on crackers instead of the same meal as the other children at a primary school in Minerbe, near Verona. The father-of-two contacted the town’s mayor Andrea Girardi to find out what had happened and told him he wanted to pay the girl’s canteen fees. The mayor told Italian newspaper La Repubblica on Tuesday: ‘He phoned me last night. ‘He told me that he wants to pay for all the year’s meals for the child in question. ‘And not only that. He offered to take care of the other outstanding fees that we have.’

Furthermore, he has signed some of his jerseys to be sold in different auctions. His signed Inter shirt in the 2019/20 season was sold for 153$ and benefits were given to Live Onlus which is an Italian nonprofit organization created in June 2008 and they are active in helping sports associations and local schools in the northern Italian towns of Monza and Brianza by donating defibrillators and sports equipment and redoing fields.  Also, his signed Sampdoria shirt was sold for 177 $, and benefits were given to Insuperabili Onlus that is a new organization for promoting sports among special needs children. It aims to spread its philosophy and work methodology by guaranteeing a quality service for children with special needs directly in their cities. More recently, his white Italian Jersey worn in a match against Macedonia in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers was sold out for €125 ($147) and the whole benefits were donated to New Horizons which is an opportunity for the most vulnerable young women and men in India and aims to combat the social and economic marginalization of the new generations from the most vulnerable categories of the population in the area around Calcutta in India and make sure they have a better future.

Legal Issues

The 34-year-old Italian player has never faced a legal problem during his career, even in his personal life. His red card statistics also show that he is not a violent player.

Antonio Candreva Career Statistics

Following Antonio Candreva biography, in this part, we would have a rundown of his Career Statistics. 

Clubs

Throughout his professional career, Antonio Candreva has played in several clubs. Between 2004–2007 he played in Ternana during which he could make 45 appearances but he didn't score any goal. Then, he joined Udinese for the 2007–08 season and there he played in 3 matches. Afterward, for the two years, he signed his loan contract with Livorno and with them, he could play in 52 matches and score 2 goals. In 2010 he went on loan to Juventus and after 16 appearances and 2 goals he has moved to Parma again on loan. In a year he played in 31 games and scored 3 goals. Later, he joined Cesena (loan) and following his 18 appearances and 2 goals he has been transferred to Lazio, at first on loan, and then he signed his fixed contract. During his time at Lazio, he played in 151 matches and scored 41 goals. In 2016, as his deal with Lazio finished, he joined Inter Milan. He spent four spells in Inter during which he could make 151 appearances and score 18 goals. Later on, for the 2020-21 season, he signed a loan contract with Sampdoria and so far he played in 26 matches and managed to score 5 goals.

International

Antonio Candreva started representing his country's national team with the Italy Under-18 squad and made his national debut in October 2004. During his early years with the national team, he could win the 2008 Toulon Tournament, and after that, he was named in the reserve list for the future Olympics. Fortunately, he was finally invited as an injury substitute for Tommaso Rocchi. Following his success with the Italy Under-18 team, in 2009 he was invited to

and made his debut on 9 September 2008 in the 2009 Under-21 European Championship qualifier against Croatia. In the following year, in May, he was promoted to the U-23 Italy's team to participate in the 2009 Under-21 European Championships. At first, he played as the second choice, mainly as the substitute when Italy reached the semi-finals of the tournament, in which he played, losing 1–0 to eventual champions Germany.

Afterward, Candreva was invited to the

senior team and made his debut in a friendly draw match against the Netherlands on 14 November 2009. His first important international tournament was the 2010 FIFA World Cup which at first he was invited to the training camp but surprisingly a week later he was omitted from the main list. Then, for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, the then Italian national team's manager Cesare Prandelli invited Antonio Candreva to Italy's senior team. After that tournament, again Prandelli invited him to participate in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. During that championship in the semi-final against Spain national football team, Candreva stepped up to take the first penalty and scored past Iker Casillas by chipping the ball. his move recalled the famous penalty scored by Czech icon Antonín Panenka in the UEFA Euro 1976 Final. Though he has been representing Italy's national team for years, his debut international goal was scored in a 1–1 Euro 2016 qualifier draw against Croatia on 16 November 2014. So far, he has made 54 appearances for Azzuri and scored 7 goals.  Stay tuned to read more about Antonio Candreva Biography and find out what awards and titles he has won.

Antonio Candreva honors

The list of honors and achievements of a player has always been one of the positive and important points in his evaluation, but at the same time, it should be noted that if a player doesn't succeed in achieving several achievements and cups, it does not mean that he is a bad player, but this failure may be due to various other issues. Antonio Candreva could achieve some honors while playing in Lazio and Inter Milan also in Italy national team. With Lazio, he won the Coppa Italia in 2012–13. Later on, as a winger in Inter Milan, he managed to become the UEFA Europa League runner-up in 2019–20. Furthermore, with Azzurri ( under 21), he won the Toulon Tournament in 2008 and with Italy national team he won the FIFA Confederations Cup third-place in 2013.

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