Little less than 18 months ago, Italian national team coach Antonio Conte was one of the first to praise Toronto FC striker Sebastian Giovinco, then 28 years old, for choosing a move to Major League Soccer in the prime of his career.

Fast forward to today — Giovinco has made the most of his time in North America, becoming the league’s most successful individual player to date. But he’s on the outs with his national team squad, excluded as of Monday from representing Italy at this summer’s European Championship.

Conte’s reasoning? Giovinco is paying the price for his move overseas.

“It's clear that if you make such choices in football then at the end you might pay the consequences,” the coach told the Associated Press Tuesday, as he began to prepare his team for next month’s tournament.

It’s a slap in the face for Giovinco’s teammates, not only as the Italian’s biggest supporters but as some of the most elite soccer players this side of the pond.

“I don’t think playing for MLS in any way takes away from the player that he is,” midfielder Will Johnson said Tuesday. “In many ways, I think it showcases what a good player he is, his adaptability to come over to a different league and step outside of his comfort zone.”

Since first donning a Reds jersey last March, Giovinco has scored 30 goals and banked 21 assists in 45 games.

“The way that Seba’s come into this league and performed — no matter what stadium, what state, against what team, West Coast, East Coast, it doesn’t matter — the guy gets it done,” Johnson said.

Conte is not the first coach to use playing in MLS as a reason for hesitating to select players or omitting them altogether, Toronto’s coach Greg Vanney said.

Only four MLS player are currently scheduled to partake in next month’s European tournament: Republic of Ireland internationals Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle of the Los Angeles Galaxy and Colorado Rapids respectively, Belgian international Laurent Ciman of the Montreal Impact and Albanian international Shkelzen Gashi, also from Colorado.

Vanney wasn’t necessarily surprised by Giovinco’s exclusion. The Italian, he said, seemed “on the verge of disappointment” when the two spoke about the prospective announcement Sunday.

But he admitted being told the striker isn’t quite good enough for Italy’s 30-player squad — which will be whittled down to 23 names by June 10 —was a bit of an awing moment for both himself and his players, many of whom have never played with a teammate or against an opponent of Giovinco’s calibre.

“Seba’s done everything he can. I think he’s proven his worth and I’m sad for him that he doesn’t get the opportunity to go because I know it’s something he really wanted to do.”

At the same time, Vanney knows his team will benefit from Giovinco staying put.

Joining the Italian side — widely regarded as one of the weakest squads fielded by the country in recent memory — could have meant losing his biggest star for a handful of matches.

“It helps us that he’s here. He’s an important piece of our team. That’s probably the understatement of the day, but he’s a key piece.”

Vanney expects the snub will propel Giovinco to new heights. And it’s not just the Italian who should take Conte’s comments to heart.

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“For all the guys in MLS, they should take that a little bit personal and continue to push this league forward and push the level,” Vanney said.

Defender Drew Moor already firmly believes MLS is one of the top leagues in the world. And he doesn’t need praise from Conte, who will leave his job with Italy for English Premier League side Chelsea after the tournament, to do so.

“I’ve been in MLS for 12 years now and I feel like it’s a pretty good league,” he said. “I watch a lot of football around the world and we don’t need a guy like him to tell us that our league’s great or not great.”

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