Sebastian Giovinco

Sebastian Giovinco

Giovinco playing for Italy in 2012
Personal information
Date of birth26 January 1987
Place of birthTurin, Italy
Height1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)
Playing positionAttacking midfielder / Forward
Club information
Current team
Toronto FC
Number10
Youth career
1996–2006Juventus
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2006–2015Juventus93(14)
2007–2008→ Empoli (loan)35(6)
2010–2012→ Parma (loan)66(22)
2015–Toronto FC6(3)
National team‡
2007–2009Italy U-2120(1)
2008Italy Olympic10(3)
2011–Italy21(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19 April 2015.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 2 February 2015

Sebastian Giovinco (Italian pronunciation: [seˈbastjan dʒoˈviŋko]; born 26 January 1987) is an Italian footballer who plays for Canadian club Toronto FC and the Italian national team as a forward. Giovinco is a small, quick, technical and agile player, with noted dribbling skills and control.[1][2][3][4] He also possesses notable playmaking skills, and he is known for his passing ability and his accuracy on free kicks.[4] Giovinco is capable of playing in several offensive positions, and he is usually deployed as a second striker, winger, or as a creative attacking midfielder.[5][6][7][8]

Due to his short stature, pace and his technical skills, Giovinco acquired the nickname formica atomica ("atomic ant," after the eponymous Hanna-Barbera character).[9]

Early life

Giovinco was born in Turin to a Sicilian father and a Calabrian mother who moved from southern Italy.[10] He grew up in Beinasco, a comune southwest of the city, in a family of Milan fans and joined the Juventus youth system when he was nine.[11] He then flourished through the ranks of the club and impressed especially during the 2005–06 season, winning the Campionato Primavera and reaching the final at the Viareggio Tournament.[12] His younger brother Giuseppe was also part of the Juventus youth team until 2010, and is now playing for Lega Pro Prima Divisione club Pisa

Giovinco was promoted to the first team during the 2006–07 season and also played his last season in the Primavera squad. His debut came on 12 May 2007 in the Serie B match against Bologna, entering in as a substitute in place of Raffaele Palladino. He marked his debut with a splendid assist for David Trezeguet's tap-in. Since then, he had been tipped to be Alessandro Del Piero's heir in the trequartista/rifinitore role.[13][14] Juventus won the Serie B title that season, earning promotion to Serie A the following season.

Club career

Loan at Empoli

On 4 July 2007, Giovinco was loaned out to Empoli with his good friend and teammate Claudio Marchisio. Giovinco made his European debut in the UEFA Cup in September and scored his first Serie A goal on 30 September 2007 when Empoli beat Palermo 3–1. Unfortunately, Empoli were unable to avoid relegation and he returned to Juventus in June.

Juventus

In June 2008, Giovinco and Claudio Marchisio both returned to Turin after enjoying a successful spell in Tuscany. Giovinco played his first match for Juventus on 24 September 2008 against Catania. He was substituted on for Pavel Nedvěd late in the second half and made an immediate impact, assisting Amauri to score the only goal of the match. On 7 December, he scored his first goal for Juventus, a free kick against Lecce in a 2–1 win.[15] In October 2008, he signed a contract extension, tying him to Juventus until the summer of 2013.[11] He ended the season with three goals in all competitions, including a volley against Bologna, where he turned in a Man of the Match performance as Juventus won 4–1.

Despite a bright start, Giovinco did not play regularly and made sporadic appearances throughout the season, both in the starting XI and off the bench, as he struggled to fit into Claudio Ranieri's preferred 4–4–2 formation. The signing of attacking midfielder Diego in the 2009 summer transfer window confined him to the bench, but new manager Ciro Ferrara confirmed that the youngster would be the back-up to the Brazilian international. When Ferrara was forced into a tactical switch due to injuries to first choice midfielders Mauro Camoranesi and Claudio Marchisio during various times, Giovinco was inserted into the starting line-up and on one occasion, he helped Juve to a 5–1 thumping of Sampdoria in only his fourth start of the season.[16] Under Ferrara's successor, Alberto Zaccheroni, he hardly featured at all due to the changes in formation and his position was taken by young midfielder Antonio Candreva, a winter loan signing from Udinese. In April, he sustained a training ground injury and was ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing tests.[17]

Parma

On 5 August 2010, Parma announced the signing of Giovinco on loan from Juventus, with an option to buy 50% of the player's transfer rights at the end of the season.[18][19] He made his debut against Brescia in a 2–0 win and scored his first goal for Parma on 12 September 2010, a free kick in a 2–1 loss to Catania. An impressive start to the season earned Giovinco a call up to represent the Italian national team.[20] On 6 January 2011, Giovinco scored two goals for Parma in a 4–1 win against his parent club, Juventus. Towards the end of the season, he again scored against Juventus. After a very promising debut season, Parma exercised the option to buy 50% of Giovinco's contract for a fee of €3 million.[21]

The 2011–12 season again saw Giovinco in fine form, leading the team in goals and assists in helping the Parma to an eighth place finish in Serie A. At one point early on in the season, he led the league's scoring charts. In his most prolific scoring season as a professional, Giovinco notched 15 goals and 11 assists in league play. He also scored a stunning volley from 30 yards out against Siena in the penultimate match of the season.[22] His remarkable performances led Parma President Tommaso Ghirardi to declare Giovinco worth more than €40 million.[23]

Return to Juventus

Giovinco playing for Juventus in the 2012–13 season

On 21 June 2012, Juventus announced that it had purchased the other 50% of Giovinco's transfer rights from Parma for €11 million, tying him to the Turin club until 30 June 2015.[24] Although he had stated that he would have been pleased to wear the number 10 shirt, which was vacated after Bianconeri legend Alessandro Del Piero left the club, Giovinco was handed the number 12 jersey under manager Antonio Conte.[25] On 11 August 2012, Giovinco won his first title with Juventus, helping the team to defeat Napoli 4–2 in the 2012 Supercoppa Italiana final. Giovinco started in the first league match of the 2012–13 season against his former club, Parma. Juventus won the match 2–0, although Giovinco suffered a minor injury two minutes from the end of the game.[26] In the following league match against Udinese on 2 September, Giovinco scored two goals and won a penalty, which was converted by Chilean teammate Arturo Vidal, as Juventus went on to defeat the Friuli team 4–1 in Udine.[27]

Giovinco scored his first career UEFA Champions League goal against FC Nordsjælland on 7 November, a match which Juventus won 4–0 at Juventus Stadium.[28] He scored the third goal as Juventus beat defending champions Chelsea 3–0 at home,[29] and also contributed to Juventus' 1–0 away win against Shakhtar Donetsk, which allowed Juventus to top their group undefeated and advance to the knockout stages for first time since the 2008–09 tournament.[30] Giovinco scored his fifth league goal of the season in the Derby della Mole against Torino, also recording an assist on one of Claudio Marchisio's two goals in a 3–0 victory at home.[31] Giovinco scored the only goal of the match in a Coppa Italia 1–0 win against Cagliari, allowing Juventus to progress to the quarter-finals of the competition.[32] Juventus eventually managed to retain their Serie A title that season, with Giovinco managing 7 goals in the league, and 11 in total in all competitions, as Juventus reached the quarter-finals of the 2012-13 UEFA Champions League, and the semi-finals of the 2012–13 Coppa Italia, only to lose out to the winners of the respective competitions, Bayern Munich and Lazio.[33]

Giovinco missed out on Juventus's 2013 Supercoppa Italiana victory, and he initially went scoreless in the 2013–14 Serie A season until finally netting a notable goal in a 3-2 win over rivals Milan on the 6 October 2013.[34] Giovinco fell out of form again, but he managed to break his goal drought on the 14 April 2014, with a notable goal against Udinese, taking the ball past a defender and scoring with a left footed curling shot from outside the area.[35] Overall, Giovinco managed 2 goals in 17 Serie A appearances that season, and one goal in the Coppa Italia, as Juventus won their third, consecutive Serie A title. During the 2014-15 season under Massimiliano Allegri, Giovinco scored two goals in a 6-1 win over Verona in the Coppa Italia, on the 15 January 2015, helping Juventus to the quarter-finals of the competition; both of his goals came in the first half, with the first coming from a free-kick, and the second in injury time.[36]

Toronto FC

On 19 January 2015, Giovinco signed with Toronto FC of Major League Soccer (MLS).[37] He was set to join the team upon the completion of the Serie A season in July 2015. He signed a five-year contract with a reported annual salary of $7 million, making him the highest paid player in MLS ahead of Orlando City SC's Kaká[38] and the highest paid Italian player in all leagues.[39] On 2 February 2015, Juventus announced that Giovinco had left the club five months earlier than originally expected in order to kick-start his career in MLS with Toronto FC.[40] Giovinco made his debut for Toronto against Vancouver on March 7.[41] He provided an assist for Jozy Altidore's equalising goal on 32nd minute[42] He scored his first goal for Toronto FC on 4 April, in a 3-2 loss to Chicago Fire, also later setting up Benoit Cheyrou's goal.[43]

International career

Giovinco has represented Italy at every youth level from the under-16 level onwards. He was called up to Italy under-21 by head coach Pierluigi Casiraghi to make his U-21 debut in the 2009 European Championship opening qualifier on 1 June 2007 and was instrumental in their 4–0 thrashing of Albania.[44]

He also played at the 2008 Toulon Tournament, where he was voted most valuable player, scoring two goals in the opening game against Côte d'Ivoire,[45] and netting the winning penalty in the semi-final match against Japan.[46] Italy ultimately won the competition, defeating Chile 1–0 in the final. That summer, he and Juventus teammates Claudio Marchisio and Paolo De Ceglie were named in the squad for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.[47] He scored the first goal in a 3–0 win against Honduras in the first match of the competition where he struck the ball from outside of the box with his weaker left foot and also impressed in the match against South Korea. Unfortunately, his strong performances could not prevent the Azzurrini from losing 3–2 in a hard-fought quarter-final against Belgium.

In the summer of 2009, Giovinco was called up the U-21 side for the European Championships in Sweden after playing a part in their successful qualifying campaign. He formed partnerships with Robert Acquafresca and Mario Balotelli in an impressive three-pronged attack. Giovinco started in every single match at the tournament but Italy lost to eventual winners Germany 1–0 in a tightly contested semi-final.

With Juventus enduring a difficult season, his international career stagnated. He was called up for the first time in nearly two years after some good performances while on loan at Parma and made his senior team debut on 9 February 2011, in the friendly game played against Germany in Dortmund, providing an assist. After some promising substitute appearances, manager Cesare Prandelli stated that he will give Giovinco his full debut as a starter alongside Antonio Cassano.[48]

Giovinco was named part of Italy's 23-man squad for UEFA Euro 2012. Giovinco appeared as a substitute in the two opening group matches, almost assisting a goal against Spain in the opening match, as Antonio Di Natale put his lobbed pass over the bar. Italy finished runners up to Spain in the final in a heavy 4–0 loss.

Giovinco started in the first game of Italy's 2014 World Cup Qualification campaign against Bulgaria in Sofia. The match ended 2–2.[49] He scored his first goal for Italy in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup group stage match against Japan, wearing the number 10 shirt, and ensuring a 4–3 win, which allowed Italy to progress to the semi-finals.[50] In the semi-finals, Giovinco came on during the second half of extra time. The match ended 0-0 and went to penalties. Giovinco netted his penalty for Italy, however, Spain won 7-6 due to Bonucci's miss. Italy subsequently won the bronze medal match against Uruguay, also on penalties, after the match had ended 2-2 after extra time. Due to the lack of playing time during the 2013-14 season, Giovinco missed out on the 2014 World Cup and was not named in the provisional nor the final squad.[51]

On 14 October 2014, Giovinco was called up by the new Italy manager, and his former Juventus manager, Antonio Conte, for an UEFA Euro 2016 qualification match against Azerbaijan in Palermo, which Italy won 2-1. Giovinco came on during the second half, and he helped set up Giorgio Chiellini's second, match-winning goal, also hitting the cross-bar towards the end of the match, from a strike outside the area, after an individual dribbling run.[52]

Career statistics

As of 15 January 2015
Team League Season League Cup1 Europe2 Other Cups3 Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Juventus Serie B 2006–07 3 0 0 0 – – – – 3 0
Empoli Serie A 2007–08 35 6 1 0 1 0 – – 37 6
Juventus Serie A 2008–09 19 2 3 1 5 0 – – 27 3
Juventus Serie A 2009–10 15 1 0 0 3 0 – – 18 1
Parma Serie A 2010–11 30 7 2 0 – – – – 32 7
Parma Serie A 2011–12 36 15 2 1 – – – – 38 16
Parma Total 66 22 4 1 – – – – 70 23
Juventus Serie A 2012–13 31 7 3 2 7 2 1 0 42 11
Juventus Serie A 2013–14 17 2 2 1 11 0 0 0 30 3
Juventus Serie A 2014–15 6 0 1 2 3 0 0 0 10 2
Juventus Total 91 12 9 6 29 2 1 0 130 20
Toronto FC MLS 2015 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 4
Career Total 192 40 14 7 30 2 1 0 245 53

1Includes Coppa Italia.

2Includes UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League.

3Includes Supercoppa Italiana.

International

As of 18 November 2014[53][54]
Italy national team
YearAppsGoals
201160
201280
201331
201440
Total211

International goals

Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first.
No Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 19 June 2013 Arena Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil  Japan 4–3 4–3 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup

Honours

Club

Juventus

Youth Squad:

Senior Squad:

National team

Italy U-21:

Italy

References

  1. ↑ "Giovinco To Toronto early". Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "Giovinco could offer TFC an element of fantasy". Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Ghirardi: «Riprenderei Giovinco e so cosa offrire alla Juve»". Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Toronto FC signs Juventus midfielder Sebastian Giovinco". Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Giovinco could offer TFC an element of fantasy". Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "Sebastian GIOVINCO" (in Italian). Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
  7. ↑ "Giovinco, Juve's atomic ant". fifa.com. 26 February 2009.
  8. ↑ http://www.torontofc.ca/news/2015/01/toronto-fc-sign-sebastian-giovinco
  9. ↑ "Juve: c’è Giovinco, la forza fresca" (in Italian). Tuttosport. 9 February 2010.
  10. ↑ "Sebastian Giovinco Complete Interview". J1897.com. 1 April 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Giovinco: "Sogno la Juve a vita"" (in Italian). juventus.com. 17 October 2008.
  12. ↑ "58° TORNEO INT.LE GIOVANILE DI VIAREGGIO COPPA CARNEVALE 2006".
  13. ↑ "Marchisio diventa grande, La Juve gli consegna le chiavi" (in Italian). Gazzetta dello Sport. 28 June 2009.
  14. ↑ "La Juve punta sui giovani d'oro" (in Italian). Tuttosport. 14 December 2008.
  15. ↑ "Giovinco, La pennellata degna di Del Piero" (in Italian). Il Giornale. 8 December 2008.
  16. ↑ "Giovinco: "Visto? Sono uno vero, con me vi divertirete!"" (in Italian). Tuttosport. 30 October 2009.
  17. ↑ "Giovinco to miss rest of the season". juventus.com. 13 April 2010.
  18. ↑ "Giovinco al Parma. Stasera la presentazione" (in Italian). Parma FC. 5 August 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  19. ↑ "Parma announce Giovinco deal". ESPN Soccernet. 5 August 2011. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  20. ↑ http://fcparma.com/stagione/archivio-primo-piano/8970.html
  21. ↑ "Barca serious about Giovinco". Football Italia. 5 April 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-17.
  22. ↑ "The magic of Palacio, Mauri's magnificent bicycle kick & the nominees for Goal.com's Serie A Goal of the Season". Goal. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-17.
  23. ↑ "Is Giovinco worth €40m?". Football Italia. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-17.
  24. ↑ "Giovinco returns to Juventus". Juventus FC. 21 June 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
  25. ↑ "I would like to have the No.10 shirt, says Giovinco". Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  26. ↑ "Juventus vs Parma – 2–0". Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  27. ↑ "Udinese 1–4 Juventus: Giovinco double helps sink 10-man hosts". Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  28. ↑ "Juventus vs FC Nordsjaelland". Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  29. ↑ "Juventus vs. Chelsea: 3–0". Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  30. ↑ "Shaktar Donetsk vs Juventus: 0–1". Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  31. ↑ "Juventus vs. Torino: 3–0". Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  32. ↑ "Pasticcio sardo, segna Giovinco FINALE Coppa Italia, Juve-Cagliari 1–0". Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  33. ↑ "Juventus, scudetto bis: 1-0 sul Palermo. Conte sale ancora sul tetto della Serie A". Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  34. ↑ "Juventus-Milan/ Giovinco come Levratto, l'Avvocato Sportivo: la rete bucata? Gol regolare ma... (esclusiva)". Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  35. ↑ "Udinese-Juventus 0-2. Gol di Giovinco e Llorente. Capolista a +8 sulla Roma". Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  36. ↑ "Juventus’s Sebastian Giovinco stars in cup drubbing of Verona". Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  37. ↑ "Sebastian Giovinco: Toronto FC sign Juventus striker". BBC Sport. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  38. ↑ "Italy attacker Sebastian Giovinco to join Toronto FC in July". espnfc.com. ESPN. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  39. ↑ "Giovinco to join Toronto from Juventus". UEFA.com. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 2015-01-21.
  40. ↑ "Sebastian Giovinco for Toronto FC early". 2 February 2015.
  41. ↑ "Vancouver Whitecaps 1, Toronto FC 3 - MLS Match Recap". March 7, 2015.
  42. ↑ I was on the scene
  43. ↑ Israel Fehr (4 April 2015). "Sebastian Giovinco scores first goal for Toronto FC in 3-2 loss to Fire". https://ca.sports.yahoo.com''. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  44. ↑ "U.21: Italia-Albania, 21 convocati" (in Italian). RAI Sport. 25 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  45. ↑ channel4.com – Football Italia
  46. ↑ channel4.com – Football Italia
  47. ↑ "De Ceglie, Marchisio and Giovinco going to Beijing". juventus.com. 4 July 2008.
  48. ↑ "Pint-sized Giovinco set for full Italy debut". 10 October 2011.
  49. ↑ "Bulgaria 2–2 Italy: Osvaldo double not enough for lacklustre Azzurri". Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  50. ↑ "Italy's victory over Japan puts them into Confederations Cup semi-finals". The Guardian. 20 June 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  51. ↑ "Rossi, Immobile make Italy provisional squad". fifa.com. 13 May 2014.
  52. ↑ "Italia-Azerbaigian 2-1. Fa tutto Chiellini: due reti e un autogol". Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  53. ↑ "Sebastian Giovinco". Soccerway. Global Sports Media. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  54. ↑ "Sebastian Giovinco". ESPNsoccernet. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  55. ↑ Finale campionato primavera 2005–06

External links