Sebastian Giovinco isnāt giving up hope of a return to Italyās national team.
The Toronto FC star hasnāt played for Italy since October 2015, the tail end of his first season in MLS. Azzurri manager Gian Piero Ventura and his predecessor Antonio Conte have both said that Giovinco isnāt being tested enough in MLS to merit a call-up.
The 30-year-old, who has 15 goals in 24 regular season appearances for Toronto this year, disagreed with that notion in a recent interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.
āItās true that tactically, the gameās simpler here and attackers have more chance to score, but on a physical level, certainly this is a very demanding league,ā he said. āBesides, nothingās easy. I just do my job the best I can, moving on all the time, without letting things which are out of my powers get to me.
āItās obvious that for a footballer, wearing Azzurro and winning with that shirt is the maximum aspiration, and it always will be. All that I can do is continue along this path, playing well for my club. If [Italy] were to call me, Iād be delighted.ā
Italy will play Sweden in November in a two-legged playoff for one spot in next summerās World Cup in Russia.
While itād be a surprise if Giovinco is named to the roster for that series, he has plenty on his plate with Toronto. The Reds have already won the 2017 Canadian Championship and Supportersā Shield, and are looking to break the all-time MLS record for points in a season on Sunday at Atlanta (4 pm ET; TSN4 in Canada, MLS LIVE in the US). The Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs will follow, where Giovinco and TFC will try to avenge their painful shootout defeat in MLS Cup 2016 by winning the title.
Giovinco, who has one goal in 23 career appearances with Italy, defended the quality of the league and Toronto in his comments.
āThereās no doubt that [MLS] has improved,ā he said. āItās still not on the same level as the elite European leagues, but it all depends on the desire and the effort you put out there. Big names keep arriving and there are a lot of top quality South Americans.
ā[If Toronto were in Serie A] we would avoid relegation easily, maybe finishing in mid-table.ā