Sebastian Giovinco

Early life

Giovinco was born in Turin to a Sicilian father, Giovanni, originally from Bisacquino in the province of Palermo, and a Calabrian mother, Elvira, originally from Catanzaro, who moved from Southern Italy. He grew up in Beinasco, a comune southwest of the city, in a family of Milan fans, and joined the Juventus youth system in 1996, when he was nine. His younger brother Giuseppe was also part of the Juventus Youth Academy and currently plays in Lega Pro.

Youth career and professional debut with Juventus

After joining the Juventus youth system, Giovinco flourished through the ranks of the club and impressed especially during the 2005–06 season, winning the Campionato Primavera, as well as the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Primavera, and also reaching the final at the Viareggio Tournament, where he was named best player of the competition.

Giovinco was promoted to the first team during the 2006–07 season and also played his last season in the Primavera squad. His professional debut came on 12 May 2007, in the Serie B match against Bologna; he came on as a substitute in place of Raffaele Palladino, and marked his first appearance with an assist for David Trezeguet's tap-in. Since then, he had been tipped to be Alessandro Del Piero's heir in the creative number 10 role behind the main striker, known as the trequartista, rifinitore, or fantasista, in Italian. Juventus won the Serie B title that season, earning promotion to Serie A the following season.

Loan at Empoli

On 4 July 2007, Giovinco was loaned out to Empoli. He made his Serie A debut on 26 August, coming on as a substitute against Fiorentina. Giovinco scored his first Serie A goal on 30 September against Palermo in a 3–1 win. He made his European debut in the UEFA Cup on 4 October against Zürich. Giovinco finished his first season in Serie A with 6 goals in 35 appearances, and was given the Leone d’Argento award, by the club. Despite Giovinco's promising performances, Empoli were unable to avoid relegation, and he returned to Juventus at the end of the season.

Second spell with Juventus

On 26 June 2008, Giovinco officially returned to Juventus. Giovinco played his first Serie A match for Juventus on 24 September, against Catania, before assisting both goals for Vincenzo Iaquinta in the 2–2 draw with BATE Borisov in the Champions League on 30 September, his first start for the club. On 7 December, he scored his first goal for Juventus, a free kick against Lecce in a 2–1 win. In October 2008, he signed a contract extension, tying him to Juventus until the summer of 2013.

Despite a promising start, Giovinco did not play regularly and made sporadic appearances throughout the season, both in the starting eleven and off the bench, as he struggled to fit into Claudio Ranieri's preferred 4–4–2 formation. The following season, when the club's new manager, Ciro Ferrara, was forced into a tactical switch due to injuries to first choice midfielders, Mauro Camoranesi and Claudio Marchisio, Giovinco was variously inserted into the starting line-up; he helped Juventus to a 5–1 defeat of Sampdoria in only his fourth start of the season. Under the following manager, Alberto Zaccheroni, he was hardly featured. In April, he sustained a training ground injury and was ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing tests.

Loan to Parma

On 5 August 2010, Parma announced the signing of Giovinco on loan from Juventus, with an option to buy half of the player's transfer rights at the end of the season. He made his Parma debut against Brescia in a 2–0 win on 29 August. He 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. On 6 January 2011, Giovinco scored two goals for Parma in a 4–1 win against his parent club, Juventus. After initially struggling to settle-in at Parma, he refound his form towards the end of the season and made his break-through with the club, finishing his first season at the club with 7 goals in 30 appearances in the league. At the end of the season, on 22 June 2011, Parma exercised the option to buy half of Giovinco's contract for a fee of €3 million.

On September 11, the first match of the 2011–12 season Giovinco scored against Juventus once again, where he found the net from a penalty in a 4–1 away defeat. On 6 May, he scored a volley from 30 yards out against Siena in the penultimate match of the season of a 2–0 away win. In his second season with Parma, Giovinco finished as the club’s leading goalscorer (15) and assist provider (11) in Serie A, helping the team to an eighth-place finish in the league; in total, he made 70 appearances during his two seasons with the club, scoring 23 goals, and providing 22 assists.

Return to Juventus

On 21 June 2012, Juventus announced that it had purchased the other half of Giovinco's transfer rights from Parma for €11 million, tying him to the Turin club until 30 June 2015. Although he had stated that he would have been pleased to wear the number 10 shirt, which was vacated after Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero left the club, Giovinco was handed the number 12 jersey under manager Antonio Conte. On 11 August 2012, Giovinco won his first title with Juventus, helping the team to defeat Napoli 4–2 in the 2012 Supercoppa Italiana. 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. 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.

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. He scored the third goal as Juventus beat defending champions Chelsea 3–0 at home, 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. On 1 December, 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. 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. 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.

Giovinco missed out on Juventus's 2013 Supercoppa Italiana victory, and he initially went scoreless in the 2013–14 season until finally netting a notable goal in a 3–2 win over rivals Milan on the 6 October 2013. Giovinco fell out of form again and struggled to gain playing time, but he managed to break his goal drought on 14 April 2014, with a goal against Udinese, taking the ball past a defender and scoring with a left footed curling shot from outside the box. 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 Hellas Verona in the Coppa Italia, on 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.

2015 season

On 19 January 2015, Giovinco signed with Canadian team Toronto FC of Major League Soccer (MLS). 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, and the highest paid Italian player in all leagues until the arrival of Andrea Pirlo to New York City FC later that year. On 2 February, 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. Giovinco made his debut for Toronto FC against Vancouver Whitecaps on 7 March. He provided an assist for Jozy Altidore's equalising goal in the 32nd minute. He scored his first goal for Toronto FC on 4 April, in a 3–2 loss to Chicago Fire, also later setting up Benoît Cheyrou's goal. On 13 May, Giovinco scored and assisted a goal in a 3–2 home win over Montreal Impact in the return leg of the 2015 Canadian Championship semi-finals, although Montreal progressed to the final on away goals, having won the home leg 1–0. After setting up two goals in TFC's 3–1 home win over San José on 30 May, Giovinco was voted Major League Soccer Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters, for week 13 of the 2015 MLS season. Following his two goals in Toronto FC's 2–1 away win over D.C. United, he was named MLS Player of the Week for a second consecutive time the following week.

On 12 July 2015, Giovinco achieved Toronto FC's first ever hat-trick in MLS play against New York City FC in a 4–4 draw at Yankee Stadium, and set up the fourth goal during the match, also missing a penalty. It was also the third fastest hat trick scored in the league's history at 9 minutes. Following the match, he received the player of the week award for the third time in the 2015 MLS season. After scoring and assisting in a 2–1 home win over Philadelphia Union on 18 July 2015, Giovinco was one of the 22 players to be named to the 2015 MLS All-Star Game roster, although he was later ruled out of the match due to injury, and replaced by his teammate Altidore. On 5 August 2015, Giovinco scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 home win over Orlando City to bring him to the top of the MLS scoring tables with 16 goals, also breaking the club's single-season record of 15 goals set in 2010 by Dwayne De Rosario in the process. On 6 August 2015, he was named the Etihad Airways MLS Player of the Month for July 2015. On 14 August 2015, Giovinco's free kick goal against Orlando City was awarded the MLS Goal of the Week Award. On 29 August 2015, he was substituted in the 51st minute in a 2–1 win over Montreal Impact due to an adductor strain; although it was reported that the injury was not serious, he was ruled out indefinitely. On 3 September 2015, he was named the MLS Player of the Month for August, winning the award for a second consecutive time. He returned to the starting line-up in Toronto's 3–1 home defeat to the New England Revolution ten days later.

On 26 September, Giovinco broke the MLS single-season points record for combined goals and assists, previously held by Chris Wondolowski, with his 15th and 16th assists of the season in a 3–2 home win over Chicago, bringing his total points tally to 35. Upon review the following day, Jonathan Osorio's goal from a Giovinco "cross" was later credited as Giovinco's goal by the MLS, which meant that he broke another record, by becoming the first player to manage at least 20 goals and 10 assists in a single MLS season, as his 16th assist was changed to his 20th goal.

On 14 October, after coming off the bench, he scored the decisive goal in a 2–1 home win over New York Red Bulls, when he started a dribbling run past several players on the left flank, which culminated in a left-footed strike just inside the area; the win allowed Toronto FC to qualify for the MLS playoffs for the first time in their history. This goal was later nominated as a finalist for the MLS Goal of the Year Award, but was beaten out by Krisztián Németh. Several pundits praised his performances, expressing the opinion that this goal was the best goal of the season, and the greatest in Toronto FC's club history. The pundits also praised Giovinco as arguably not only one of the top players of the current MLS season, but also already as one of the greatest players in MLS history. Giovinco had just returned from international duty earlier that day, having appeared for Italy the day before in a Euro 2016 qualifying match in Rome. On 25 October 2015, Giovinco assisted Altidore in a 2–1 away defeat to Montreal in the final match of the regular season, ending the regular season with 22 goals and 16 assists, which allowed him to win the 2015 Audi MLS Golden Boot as both the joint top-scorer (alongside Kei Kamara) and the top-assist provider of the league in his first year with the club, with a record 38 points; as a result, he became the first MLS player ever to win both the top scorer and the top assist provider awards in the same season, as well as the first Italian and Toronto FC player to win these awards. In the playoffs, Toronto were eliminated in the knock-out round, following a 3–0 away defeat to domestic rivals Montreal Impact on 29 October. In November 2015, Giovinco was named one of the three finalists for both the 2015 MLS Newcomer of the Year Award and the 2015 MLS MVP Award, winning both awards on 23 November and 2 December respectively, while three days before the latter, on 29 November, he was named to the MLS Best XI. On 30 December, Giovinco was named the "Transaction of the Year" by MLS.

2016 season

Giovinco started off his second season with an 82nd-minute penalty in a 2–0 away win over Supporters' Shield holders New York Red Bulls, on 6 March; he later also set up Marco Delgado's goal in added time. On 16 April, he scored the fastest goal in Toronto FC history at 57 seconds in a 1–0 away win over D.C. United, surpassing the previous record holder Reggie Lambe's by one minute and 50 seconds set in 2012. A week later, he scored both goals in a 2–0 win away to the Montreal Impact in the 401 Derby; with these goals, he equalled De Rosario as the club's all-time top scorer in the MLS with 28 goals in 40 appearances. Giovinco was named to the Team of the Week for his performances. On 7 May, Toronto's home opener, he set up rookie Tsubasa Endoh for his first ever MLS goal in a 1–0 win over FC Dallas, at the newly renovated BMO Field. On 14 May, Giovinco overtook De Rosario as the club's outright all-time top scorer in the MLS, scoring two goals and setting up another in a 4–3 home defeat to Canadian rivals Vancouver. On 29 June, Giovinco helped Toronto win the Canadian Championship over Vancouver 2–2 on aggregate, winning on away goals, as he scored the only goal in the first leg on 21 June. On 14 July, he won the 2016 Best MLS Player ESPY Award. In July 2016, Giovinco was included in the roster for the 2016 MLS All-Star Game.

After an eight-game goal drought, Giovinco scored a hat-trick against D.C. United, on 23 July, in a 4–1 home win, also surpassing De Rosario's previous all-time record as Toronto FC's top scorer by two goals to 35 goals. With two goals from free kicks during the match, including his seventh in the MLS, he broke David Beckham's record for most goals from set-pieces in the league since 2010. He was named to the Team of the Week once again for his performances, and was also named MLS Player of the Week for the first time that season. On 27 August, Giovinco was brought off the field after the later diagnosis of strains in his quadriceps and adductor in the eventual 1–0 loss in the 401 Derby with Montreal at home; although he was initially expected to be sidelined for a month, the injury was more severe than expected, and he ended up missing seven weeks of play. He finally returned to action on 16 October, against Montreal once again, helping to set up Toronto's equaliser in a 2–2 away draw. On 26 October, Giovinco scored the opening goal of a 3–1 home win over Philadelphia, both his and Toronto FC's first MLS Playoff goal in the MLS Cup Playoffs, and was later involved in his team's next two goals; this was Toronto's first ever playoff win, which enabled the team to progress to the Eastern Conference Semi-finals for the first time. On 6 November in the second leg of the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, Giovinco scored a hat-trick in a 5–0 away win over New York City FC, 7–0 on aggregate, to progress to the Eastern Conference Finals in an all Canadian derby against Montreal Impact. In the first leg of the Eastern Conference Final on 22 November, Giovinco set up Jozy Altidore's goal in a 3–2 away loss to Montreal. Toronto later beat Montreal 5–2 in extra time in the return leg at home on 30 November, as Giovinco once again set up Altidore's goal, winning on an aggregated score of 7–5, making Toronto FC the first Canadian team to compete in an MLS Cup Final; although he was forced off in the 97th minute due to cramp in his calf, he was later declared fit to play against Seattle Sounders in the 2016 MLS Cup Final. On 5 December, he was named to the MLS Best XI for the second season in a row, despite being left off the finalists list for the MLS MVP.

In the 2016 MLS Cup Final against Seattle, held at BMO Field on 10 December, Giovinco's performance was largely stifled by Seattle's heavy and aggressive defending, despite initially creating an early goalscoring chance for Altidore; throughout the match, he was fouled a total of six times and had several shots blocked. A scoring opportunity came in the 48th minute, but his shot was skewed wide of the near post. He was eventually substituted for Tosaint Ricketts in the 103rd minute, due to an apparent injury, and consequently, despite being the club's main penalty kick taker, was not used in the resulting shoot-out, which Toronto lost 5–4, following a 0–0 draw after extra-time. Regarding Giovinco's surprising substitution, Toronto's coach, Greg Vanney, stated in the post-match press conference: "He couldn't move. He looked at me. It's not like I take him off because I want to. I look at him and he gives me the sign that he can’t go any more and when he feels like he can’t go, he feels like he’s more of a liability to the group than anything. That’s the decision. It's not one that I generally want to make, but we had to."

2017 season

Giovinco scored his first goal of the season in a 2–2 home draw to expansion team Atlanta United, on 8 April. On 27 June, Giovinco scored both goals in a 2–1 home win over Montreal in the 2017 Canadian Championship final second leg — edging Montreal 3–2 on aggregate; he also won the George Gross Memorial Trophy for the most valuable player of the tournament. On 30 July, Giovinco scored two goals and set up another in a 4–0 home win over New York City FC; his second goal of the match, which came from a free kick, was his 50th MLS goal, and his record-breaking 10th MLS goal from a free kick.

Youth 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 helped in their 4–0 defeat of Albania.

He also played at the 2008 Toulon Tournament, where he was voted most valuable player, scoring two goals in the opening game against the Ivory Coast, and netting the winning penalty in the semi-final match against Japan. 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. On 7 August 2008, he scored the opening 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.

In the summer of 2009, Giovinco was called up to the U-21 side for the European Championships in Sweden after playing a part in their successful qualifying campaign. Giovinco started in every single match at the tournament, but Italy lost to eventual winners Germany 1–0 in a tightly contested semi-final.

Senior debut, Euro 2012 and 2013 Confederations Cup

He was called up for the first time in nearly two years while on loan at Parma, and made his senior team debut on 9 February 2011, in the friendly game played against Germany in Dortmund, which ended in a 1–1 draw. In his second international appearance, against Ukraine, he provided an assist from a back-heel for Alessandro Matri's goal as Italy won the match 2–0 in Kiev. After some promising substitute appearances, manager Cesare Prandelli stated that he would give Giovinco his full debut as a starter alongside Antonio Cassano.

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 of the tournament against Spain and Croatia, almost assisting a goal against Spain in the opening match, as the earlier goalscorer Antonio Di Natale put his lobbed pass over the bar. Italy finished as runners up to Spain in the final in a 4–0 loss.

Giovinco started in the first game of Italy's 2014 World Cup Qualification campaign against Bulgaria in Sofia, wearing the jersey number 10; the match ended in a 2–2 draw. 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. In the semi-finals, Giovinco came on during the second half of extra time; the match ended 0–0 and went to penalties as Giovinco netted his penalty for Italy, however, Spain won 7–6 due to Leonardo 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.

Euro 2016

In October 2014, Giovinco was called up by the new Italy manager, and his former Juventus manager, Antonio Conte, for an UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match against Azerbaijan in Palermo, which Italy won 2–1 on 10 October. 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.

Following his strong performances for MLS side Toronto FC, Giovinco was called up to the national team once again in August 2015 for Italy's Euro 2016 qualifying matches against Malta and Bulgaria in September, and was set to become the first MLS player to represent Italy. He was ultimately ruled out of both matches after sustaining an adductor injury against Montreal Impact, and New York City FC's Andrea Pirlo became the first MLS player to play for Italy, during the same qualifiers. In October 2015, he was named to the Italian national team for the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Norway on 10 and 13 October. He made a substitute appearance in Italy's 3–1 away win over Azerbaijan, which guaranteed the Italians a place at Euro 2016; he came on in the 79th minute and later hit the cross-bar from a free kick after being fouled by Badavi Guseynov, who was subsequently sent off. On 13 October, he came off of the bench once again and was involved in both goals as Italy came from behind to defeat Norway 2–1 in Rome, and top their group. On 23 May 2016, Giovinco, along with fellow MLS compatriot Pirlo, was left off of Conte's 30-player shortlist for Italy's Euro 2016 squad; regarding their omission, Conte commented in a press conference, "When you make a certain choice and go to play in certain leagues, you do so taking it into account that they could pay the consequences from a footballing viewpoint". In response to his omission, Giovinco stated, "I was upset. I need to keep improving so I can find my place back on the national team; I've said before, the league is continuing to grow and it's a beautiful league."

Style of play

Giovinco is a small, quick, technically gifted, and agile player, with noted dribbling skills, balance, acceleration, and excellent ball control; these characteristics allow him to beat opponents, hold up the ball with his back to goal or in tight spaces, and create space or chances for teammates, despite his lack of strong physical attributes. Although he is capable of scoring goals, he also possesses notable playmaking skills, and he is known for his vision, creativity, and his passing and striking ability with both feet, despite being naturally right footed, as well as his accuracy and ball delivery from free kicks. Giovinco is capable of playing in several offensive positions, and he is usually deployed in a free role as a second striker, although he is also capable of playing as a winger, on either flank, or in the centre as a creative attacking midfielder; he has also been used in a more offensive, central role as a main striker.

Personal life

In May 2013, Sebastian and his wife Shari celebrated the birth of their first child, Jacopo.

Media

Giovinco features in EA Sports' FIFA video game series; he appeared on the cover of the MLS custom edition of FIFA 16.

Club

International

International goals

Club

Primavera Squad

Senior Squad

International

Individual

Records