MLS – Serie A Cross Over: Giovinco Stirs the Pot

The Italian Serie A and Major League Soccer. The association is not exactly intuitive. Serie A players, particularly Italian ones have looked across the Pond as a last destination, in the twilight of their careers.

The association is counterintuitive and surprisingly so considering that among MLS pioneers were decorated stars the likes of Roberto Donadoni (ex Milan and Atalanta) and Giuseppe Galderisi (former Hellas Verona and Juventus) who joined the North American top flight in its initial years.

The race for the former Serie A player of this MLS season resumed this week. The head-to-head between Toronto FC’s Sebastian Giovinco and LA Galaxy’s Robbie Keane saw the pint-sized Italian come out on top this week, with another dominating performance. The atomic ant returned to the throne among former Serie A players who are currently plying their trade in Major League Soccer (MLS).

Giovinco’s performance was characterized by his usual flare, speed and power leading Toronto’s attack with seven shots at goal, two of which were on Philadelphia Union’s goal. The man from Turin gave his reds the lead at the 28^th minute with a classic of his repertoire, the free kick:

That’s the former Juventus striker’s 21^st goal in his debut season, garnished by 15 assists: it’s no surprise that Italy’s national team coach called him up once more. And this time, Giovinco will be fit enough to respond. In the same match, former Roma and Chievo Verona man Michael “the General” Bradley commanded Toronto’s midfield with a good performance doing his usual dirty but dutiful work in the background and made three attempts at goal without hitting the net. Bradley’s performances have delighted TFC fans for a few years now, often doing so quietly cleaning up a lot in the fog of many battles where he often features as a protagonist.

The match between Orlando City and Montreal Impact set up an interesting duel deep in the French-Canadian midfield between former Fiorentina and Parma man Marco Donadel and Brazilian superstar Ricardo Kakà. Those looking for a highlight real between the these two were disappointed, however. Both players cancelled each other out in that midfield battle, which produced only one attempt at goal by Donadel.

Robbie Keane responded to Giovinco’s goal by putting his side ahead in a very difficult match in Seattle on Sunday evening. With ten minutes remaining in the first half, the former Inter striker intercepted a pass in Seattle’s defence and did not forgive (0:30 of the video below):

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In the same match, another former Inter striker, Nigerian Obafemi Martins did not shine, producing just one shot on goal.