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Giovinco blames trophy afterglow for Toronto FC's tepid opening day

Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Sebastian Giovinco figures parading the trio of trophies Toronto FC earned in 2017 set his team up for a poor showing against Columbus Crew SC, with the Atomic Ant explaining that those triumphs came last year and should not be confused with the task at hand this season.

The Reds dropped their 2018 season opener 2-0 at BMO Field on Saturday, in a match that featured another trophy celebration before kick-off, with the club showing off the Canadian Championship, the Supporters' Shield, and the MLS Cup the Reds procured in 2017.

It was the sort of fanfare that the Italian believes his team could do without.

"At the beginning it was not in a good way; we continued (to) show the trophy, we continued to think about what happened last year," Giovinco told reporters after the match, as quoted by Sportsnet's John Molinaro.

"I think, for me, this is no good."

Giovinco added: "I think we have to change the mentality. We don’t have to think about last year - we have to think about this year, and this year is more difficult."

The diminutive Italian is no stranger to the procuring of silverware, having been a part of a Juventus side that repeatedly won the Scudetto and various other competitions over the years. But for Toronto FC, these triumphs marked the very first instance of such victories in some of those respective competitions.

Toronto must refocus its efforts as it chases yet another new prize, with a test against Mexican outfit Tigres UANL slated for next Wednesday. It'll be the first leg of two in the quarter-final stage of the CONCACAF Champions League, a competition that no MLS team has won in its current format.

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