Sebastian Giovinco’s agent called it “absurd” that the Toronto FC star wasn’t named to the Italian national team for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against NYCFC's David Villa and Spain and Israel.
Giovinco scored two goals to power league-leading Toronto to a 3-1 win at rival Montreal Impact on Sunday. He now has 15 goals and six assists this season and 54 goals and 37 assists in 83 regular season games since joining TFC ahead of the 2015 season.
“It’s true that things are going great, but Giovinco isn’t a novelty,” his agent Andrea D’Amico told Tuttomercatoweb.com. “He’s scored over 60 goals in the last two-and-a-half years, an extraordinary return no matter what the competition is.”
Giovinco hasn’t played for Italy since October 2015. Roma striker Lorenzo Pellegrini and Juventus forward Federico Bernardeschi were both named to the Italy squad despite not starting in either of their clubs’ first two games of the Serie A season.
“I find it absurd,” said D’Amico. “It’s a shame that a player with his skill, with his characteristics and his eye for goal isn’t called. Giovinco knows how to score in every way, even from free kicks, he’s a starter for his club and an absolute star in MLS. I don’t understand why players on the bench for Italian teams are getting called up instead, but sadly the story is always the same lately.”
Giovinco and Toronto FC have this weekend off. They’ll return to action on Sept. 9 against San Jose.
