When Toronto FC‘s Sebastian Giovinco looks ahead to the post-season, he only sees one thing: bringing the MLS Cup to Toronto.
In an article published in The Players’ Tribune on Wednesday, the Italian forward wrote about last season’s deep playoff run before losing to the Seattle Sounders in the final, and how it changed the club’s approach to the upcoming playoff campaign.
“Call our season a comeback story, a redemption story, whatever you want. We’ve been at the top of the table all year. But we’re not satisfied,” he wrote.
Now sitting atop the standings with two games to go in the regular season, the winners of the Supporters’ Shield—and the first-round bye that comes with it—look poised to make another deep run this fall.
“And after each win, we stop celebrating and we move on,” Giovinco wrote. “And we won’t stop until we see it: A championship in Toronto.”
Here are some excerpts from the article:
On his first impressions of Toronto upon signing with TFC in 2015:
[blockquote]”I don’t think I knew how beautiful this city was going to be. It’s weird. It’s a strange feeling. I’ve played for other clubs in other cities — and it’s not easy moving your life, your career. It’s not easy coming to a new place and having fans accept you.
But in Toronto, I found a home right away.”[/blockquote]
On the heartbreak of losing the 2016 MLS Cup Final:
[blockquote]”If I’m being honest, I had this feeling a couple of days before. I don’t know, there was just something in the back of my mind telling me that things weren’t going to go our way. I spoke to a couple of my family members and friends about it. And you try to shake it off by game day. We had our opportunities, but we just couldn’t finish.
I couldn’t finish.”[/blockquote]
On his admiration of Michael Bradley:
[blockquote]”There’s Michael Bradley. He’s our leader on the field and in the changing room. And after all that time he spent playing in Rome, his Italian’s pretty good, too. (Maybe even better than mine!) But more important, he’s the one who is giving guys advice and pulling us together before a match.”[/blockquote]
On his on-field chemistry with Jozy Altidore:
[blockquote]”And there’s Jozy. He’s my guy. It’s funny, my first year in MLS nobody knew my game, so I could score all these goals when guys would leave me open in the box. The second year, I guess people caught on. I was covered a little more. But that left guys like Jozy open to step up — and he did. I don’t know, I just feel this natural connection with him on the field. We don’t have long chats before a game. We just go out there and know where the other guy is going be.”[/blockquote]
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