FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – No player has ever exploded onto the scene in Major League Soccer quite like Sebastian Giovinco did in 2015.
The diminutive Italian ran away with the league’s Most Valuable Player award, racking up 22 goals and 16 assists to lead Toronto FC to their first-ever playoff appearance. He added the Audi Golden Boot and MLS Newcomer of the Year award to his trophy shelf, and was also named to the MLS Best XI.
It’s little surprise, then, that when Giovinco leads TFC into Gillette Stadium on Saturday afternoon (4 p.m. on CSN and 98.5 The Sports Hub), the New England Revolution will be paying very close attention.
“You have to focus on him; he’s that good of a player,” Revs left back Chris Tierney said of the 29-year-old veteran of the Italian National Team. “I think he’s one of the best players this league’s ever seen, so he’s a guy you have to spend a lot of time on and do your homework.”
“They’re a team that’s deep and that can beat you in a lot of different ways,” added head coach Jay Heaps. “But spearheading that obviously is Giovinco and how he plays and what he does to create for himself, and by doing so, open space for others.”
The Revs do have experience dealing with Giovinco; they limited him to just one assist in three appearances last year, making New England the only team that faced Giovinco multiple times to prevent him from finding the back of the net.
But, of course, it’s not all about Giovinco. A pair of other Designated Players, Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley, combined for 18 goals and six assists last season, while young midfielder Jonathan Osorio also pitched in with an additional seven assists.
“They’ve got some good pieces elsewhere,” said Tierney. “It’s going to be a difficult game for us.”
The objective will be to make it a difficult game for Toronto FC, as well. New England boast their own attacking centerpiece – Lee Nguyen has combined for 25 goals and 15 assists over the last two years – and players like Juan Agudelo, Teal Bunbury, Charlie Davies, Diego Fagundez and Kelyn Rowe give the Revs enough options to stretch any team thin.
“They’re going to have to deal with our weapons, and I think we’ve got some that they’re going to be worried about,” said Tierney. “Hopefully we bring the attitude to the game that will let our guys play and play freely.”
