Antonio Soda

Antonio Soda
Personal information
Date of birth June 24, 1964 (1964-06-24) (age 47)
Place of birth Cutro, Italy
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Manager (former striker)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1982–1983 Catanzaro 1 (0)
1983–1984 Carbonia 31 (7)
1984–1988 Catanzaro 78 (16)
1988–1990 Empoli 54 (10)
1990 Triestina 7 (0)
1990–1992 Bari 47 (8)
1992–1993 Spal 43 (4)
1993–1994 Palermo 23 (8)
1994–1995 Spal 13 (2)
1995–1996 Turris 14 (0)
1996 Catanzaro 7 (2)
1996–1997 Giorgione 19 (1)
Teams managed
2003–2005 Sanremese
2005–2008 Spezia
2008–2009 Benevento
2011 Poggibonsi
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2009-03-29.
† Appearances (Goals).

Antonio Soda (born June 24, 1964 in Cutro) is an Italian football manager and former striker who last served as head coach of Benevento Calcio.

Contents

Career

Playing

Soda started his professional career with Catanzaro, where he played from 1982 to 1988 (except for a one-year stint at Carbonia in 1983–1984).

He then played for several Serie A and Serie B teams, such as Bari and Palermo. He retired in 1997. Most memorably, he scored on his Serie A debut in Bari's 2-0 home victory against Juventus on November 25, 1990.

Coaching

In 2003 Soda started his managing career, accepting a head coach job at Serie D team Sanremese, leading his side to an immediate promotion to Serie C2 in his first season and an impressive sixth place the following season.

In 2005 he was appointed at the helm of then-Serie C1 side Spezia; Soda immediately managed to win a historical promotion to Serie B in his first season, winning the Serie C1/A champions after a long battle with Genoa. In his first Serie B campaign, Soda then led Spezia to escape relegation after winning a dramatic two-legged playoff against Verona, being then confirmed for the 2007–08 season. Economic problems however prevented the team from being reinforced, and Spezia ultimately went relegated to the third tier in 2008, with the club declaring bankruptcy a few weeks after the end of the season and being not admitted into professional football.

These events left Soda without a club until November 2008, when he accepted to replace Aldo Papagni as head coach of Lega Pro Prima Divisione promotion hopefuls Benevento. He guided the club to second place in the final league table, losing promotion in the playoff finals against Crotone. He left the club by mutual consent on June 2009.

From 2 February 2011 he is the coach of Poggibonsi that plays in Lega Pro Seconda Divisione group B.

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