The Italian national team (Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio – FIGC) announced Saturday that forward Sebastian Giovinco has been called to Antonio Conte’s side for a pair of upcoming UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying matches.
This season, Giovinco has made 29 appearances and scored 20 goals with 15 assists for Toronto FC. Last Saturday in a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Fire, Giovinco earned a goal and an assist to set a new Major League Soccer (MLS) record for most goals (20) and assists (15) combined in a single season, breaking Chris Wondolowski’s previous record of 27 goals and 7 assists. He became the first player in MLS history to record at least 20 goals and 10 assists in a single season. Giovinco also won back-to-back MLS Player of the Month awards for July and August. He has also been named MLS Player of the Week three times this season (Weeks 13, 14, 19). In addition to being named to the MLS Team of the Week on ten occasions (Weeks 9, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 23, 29, 30).
He also set a number of club records including goals in a single season (20) and assists (15). Giovinco currently sits second for goals scored in club history with 20 goals.
To date, Giovinco has earned 21 caps and has scored one goal for the Italian national team. He earned his first cap for Italy on February 9, 2011 in a friendly match against Germany. Giovinco was part of Italy’s second place finish at the UEFA Euro 2012 tournament. He scored his first international goal against Japan in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup; where Italy went on to win the Bronze medal. In addition, he has represented Italy at every level since U-16. He was called into Conte’s side last month but did not feature due to injury.
Italy will play the final two matches in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying. The Azzurri will travel to Azerbaijan on Saturday, October 10 and then host Norway on Tuesday, October 13 in Rome. Italy currently leads Group H with 18 points, two ahead of Norway in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying. The top two teams in the standings following the conclusion of qualifying will qualify for the UEFA Euro 2016 championship in France.
