Giovinco upset with Italy snub but accepts Conte's decision
Toronto FC star Sebastian Giovinco isn't harboring any ill will towards Italian national team manager Antonio Conte despite being snubbed from the Azzurri for Euro 2016.
The Atomic Ant enjoyed an incredible 2015 season, scoring 22 goals and recording 16 assists en route to the MVP and Golden Boot prizes, while breaking the record for highest overall combined goals and assists in league history. Still, despite lighting up the league, Giovinco didn't make the 30-man provisional roster, something he says he's upset about.
"It's useless to think about," Giovinco said, through a translator, according to Toronto FC. "I need to keep going and I need to keep improving so I can find my place back in the national team.
"At the end of the day, you need to see what the coach says and how he interprets things when he chooses his team. It can be right, it can be wrong, but it's not really my place to say. I think that he knows what's best and I think it's a good decision if that's what he thinks. There's no sense in continuing to talk about it."
Giovinco and fellow Italian MLS regular Andrea Pirlo were omitted from Conte's team as a "consequence" of their decision not to play in Europe, but Giovinco says he didn't even know he wasn't making the team until after the roster was announced.
"I didn't even really hear about it," he said. "I learned the same way that you did that I was excluded from the team. It's something that I could have expected. Maybe I didn't do enough and I need to keep doing more to become better."
Toronto FC head coach Greg Vanney feels for his star player, but admitted he's happy he'll have Giovinco at his disposal this summer, especially with Jozy Altidore out injured with a hamstring injury and Michael Bradley away for the U.S. national team during the Copa America Centenario.
"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," Vanney said, according to MLSsoccer.com. "At the same time, we have him here for us and we stand to benefit from that.
"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."
Giovinco says his disappointment at being left out of the national team won't change his mind about his decision to join the Canadian MLS outfit, either:
"As long as I continue to have fun, I'm going to keep playing in this league," he said. "I've always said and I'll continue to say that the league is constantly growing. Right now I think it's one of the best and most beautiful leagues."