Sebastian Giovinco hasn’t spoken publicly since he was omitted from Italy’s preliminary roster for the upcoming European Championships on Monday, but his Toronto FC teammates and head coach went to bat for the reigning MLS MVP on Tuesday.
TFC manager Greg Vanney, midfielder Will Johnson and defender Drew Moor all commented on Giovinco’s absence from the 30-man roster named by Italy head coach Antonio Conte. They universally backed the 29-year-old attacker, though all three admitted that having him around for the duration of the tournament – the Euros run from June 10-July 10 – will be beneficial for TFC.
“I’m sad for him that he doesn’t get the opportunity to go because I know it was something he really wanted to do. At the same time, we have him here for us and we stand to benefit from that,” Vanney said.
“We have a handful of important games coming up… and it helps us that he’s here. He’s an important piece of our team—that’s probably the understatement of the day, but he’s a key piece.”
If named to Italy’s roster, Giovinco would have missed at least two MLS matches and both legs of TFC’s Canadian Championship semifinal series against Montreal. Toronto are currently in fourth-place in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the first-place Philadelphia Union.
TFC’s other Designated Players, captain Michael Bradley and forward Jozy Altidore, are both currently out of action for the club, with Bradley with the US national team for the Copa America Centenario and Altidore out injured.
“It’s mixed emotions because you feel bad for Seba. It’s a huge tournament and I personally 100 percent believe he deserves to be there.… Selfishly, we’re happy he’s [staying]. He’s such an important part of this squad,” Moor said.
Conte spoke about his decision to leave Giovinco and New York City FC midfielder and longtime Italian international Andrea Pirlo off his roster on Tuesday, indicating that their playing in MLS hurt their chances of making the Azzurri squad. Vanney, Moor and Johnson dismissed that thought on Tuesday, pointing to Giovinco’s play in Euro qualifiers late last year – he helped clinch their spot in the tournament by setting up the game-winner against Norway in October – as evidence that the Designated Player can still thrive on the international level.
“It’s interesting. [Giovinco] obviously played some games last year [for Italy] and did well. You’ll see what happens this summer if it was the correct decision,” Johnson said. “Obviously, we feel for Sebastian. We wanted him to go.… I don’t think playing in MLS in any way takes away from the player that he is.”
“I don’t think we need the Italian national team coach to give us any credit,” added Moor. “I don’t feel like he’s that important to us. I’ve been in MLS for 12 years, and I feel like it’s a pretty good league. I watch a lot of [soccer] around the world; we don’t need a guy like him to tell us that our league is great or that it’s not great.”
Giovinco is scheduled to speak to media in Toronto on Wednesday.
