 Sebastian Giovinco of Juventus |
"He's a player I know very well. He's played for me for the U-21s and he's a player I admire. He's one of those players who can change a game"
Gianfranco Zola, West Ham manager
"Giovinco has more creativity than (Alessandro) Del Piero"
Dino Zoff, Juventus legend
"He's fundamental to the team's play and in terms of giving his team-mates confidence"
Pierluigi Casiraghi, Italy U-21 coach
Blessed with outstanding technique, mazy dribbles and expert passing, Sebastian Giovinco has been touted by Juventus fans as the successor to Alessandro Del Piero.
Giovinco has impressive skills, excellent speed and playmaking ability which of course encouraged the Del Piero comparisons.
He is a real talent who can play in any position up front with a similar sized frame to Gianfranco Zola and the great Diego Maradona.
Due to his short stature and his technical skills, Giovinco acquired the nickname formica atomica (atom ant, after the eponymous Hanna-Barbera character). Standing at only 1.64m and tipping the scales at just 59kg, his physique is more suited to a champion jockey than the next calcio superstar.
But don't be deceived by his slight stature as Super Seba is considered one of the most exciting young talents in world football, although only being in the early stages of his footballing career.
Born in the northern Italian city of Torino to southern Italian parents, Giovinco grew up highly interested in football and impressed Juventus who brought him into their youth system in 2001. At the age of 14, he was already embarrassing the 16-year-old's as he played an important role in winning the Campionato Primavera in 2005/06 campaign.
He was successively integrated into the Juventus first team and made his debut on May 2007, in a Serie B league match against Bologna, entering in as a substitute in place of Raffaele Palladino, and promptly marking his debut with a splendid assist for David Trezeguet's tap-in.
A few months later in July, he was loaned to Tuscan Serie A club Empoli as part of the Sergio Almirón deal, and he scored his first Serie A goal on September 2007, when Empoli beat Palermo 3-1.
In 35 matches with Empoli, he scored six goals, including an incredible 91st minute free kick against AS Roma which was compared by some pundits to Ronaldinho's against England in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Unfortunately, the Azzurri finished the season in 18th place and will be playing the 2008/09 season in Serie B.
On June 2008, it was confirmed that Giovinco would return to Juventus for the 2008/2009 campaign, giving him the chance to make a big impact in Turin and play at the Champions League level as well.
The pint-sized midfielder played his first Serie A match for the Bianconeri against Catania on September 2008, coming in for veteran Pavel Nedved late in second half, and played a great game assisting Amauri on Juventus' 1-0 goal. He scored his first Juve goal in a game against Lecce on December 2008, netting from a freekick in the 2-1 away win.
His skills attracted the attention of youth national coaches, and he has represented Italy since the age of 15 and has been outstanding at every level. He made his first U-21 appearance in a match against Albania, and marked his debut once again with an assists - this time for Roberto Acquafresca who scored Azzurrini's only goal in the 1-0 victory.
At the 2008 Toulon Tournament in France in May, Giovinco was voted as the tournament's most valuable player. He started the tournament by scoring both goals in a 2-0 victory over the Ivory Coast, then assisted on both goals in a 2-0 defeat of the United States. In the semifinals, his winning penalty clinched success against Japan. Italy ultimately won the competition, defeating Chile 1–0 in the final.
Giovinco then appeared in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing where his adventure with the Azzurrini ended in ignominy at the hands of Belgium in the quarter-finals. However, his 30-yard blast against Honduras in the first match of the competition will live long in the memory.
Little wonder then that Giovinco's name was hastily wrote on to shopping lists for top clubs all over Europe. With the sharks forming a ring around their prized asset, the Old Lady started drawing up the paperwork for a bumper contract offer to tie Giovinco to the club for the foreseeable future. And on October 2008, it was announced that the diminutive attacking midfielder has extended his contract with Juventus through until 2013.
Patience may be a virtue, but the prospect of Giovinco harnessing the full extent of his potential is certainly a mouthwatering one. However, the question is whether a man used to being a big fish in a small pond with Empoli and the Azzurrini can cope with the choppy waters of Juventus' ocean of talent.
Full name: Sebastian Giovinco
Date of birth: January 26, 1987
Birthplace: Torino, Italy
Nationality: Italian
Height: 1.64 m
Weight: 59 kg
Club: Juventus
Position: Attacking Midfielder
Number: 20
Honours:
International Tournament of Toulon (2008)
Italian Serie B (2007)
Related entries:
Technorati tags: Italy Juventus Sebastian Giovinco
Giovinco has impressive skills, excellent speed and playmaking ability which of course encouraged the Del Piero comparisons.
He is a real talent who can play in any position up front with a similar sized frame to Gianfranco Zola and the great Diego Maradona.
But don't be deceived by his slight stature as Super Seba is considered one of the most exciting young talents in world football, although only being in the early stages of his footballing career.
Born in the northern Italian city of Torino to southern Italian parents, Giovinco grew up highly interested in football and impressed Juventus who brought him into their youth system in 2001. At the age of 14, he was already embarrassing the 16-year-old's as he played an important role in winning the Campionato Primavera in 2005/06 campaign.
He was successively integrated into the Juventus first team and made his debut on May 2007, in a Serie B league match against Bologna, entering in as a substitute in place of Raffaele Palladino, and promptly marking his debut with a splendid assist for David Trezeguet's tap-in.
A few months later in July, he was loaned to Tuscan Serie A club Empoli as part of the Sergio Almirón deal, and he scored his first Serie A goal on September 2007, when Empoli beat Palermo 3-1.
On June 2008, it was confirmed that Giovinco would return to Juventus for the 2008/2009 campaign, giving him the chance to make a big impact in Turin and play at the Champions League level as well.
The pint-sized midfielder played his first Serie A match for the Bianconeri against Catania on September 2008, coming in for veteran Pavel Nedved late in second half, and played a great game assisting Amauri on Juventus' 1-0 goal. He scored his first Juve goal in a game against Lecce on December 2008, netting from a freekick in the 2-1 away win.
His skills attracted the attention of youth national coaches, and he has represented Italy since the age of 15 and has been outstanding at every level. He made his first U-21 appearance in a match against Albania, and marked his debut once again with an assists - this time for Roberto Acquafresca who scored Azzurrini's only goal in the 1-0 victory.
At the 2008 Toulon Tournament in France in May, Giovinco was voted as the tournament's most valuable player. He started the tournament by scoring both goals in a 2-0 victory over the Ivory Coast, then assisted on both goals in a 2-0 defeat of the United States. In the semifinals, his winning penalty clinched success against Japan. Italy ultimately won the competition, defeating Chile 1–0 in the final.
Little wonder then that Giovinco's name was hastily wrote on to shopping lists for top clubs all over Europe. With the sharks forming a ring around their prized asset, the Old Lady started drawing up the paperwork for a bumper contract offer to tie Giovinco to the club for the foreseeable future. And on October 2008, it was announced that the diminutive attacking midfielder has extended his contract with Juventus through until 2013.
Patience may be a virtue, but the prospect of Giovinco harnessing the full extent of his potential is certainly a mouthwatering one. However, the question is whether a man used to being a big fish in a small pond with Empoli and the Azzurrini can cope with the choppy waters of Juventus' ocean of talent.
Full name: Sebastian Giovinco
Date of birth: January 26, 1987
Birthplace: Torino, Italy
Nationality: Italian
Height: 1.64 m
Weight: 59 kg
Club: Juventus
Position: Attacking Midfielder
Number: 20
Honours:
International Tournament of Toulon (2008)
Italian Serie B (2007)
Did you like our post? If so, please subscribe to our RSS feed to receive more updates. Thank you for reading!
Related entries:
Technorati tags: Italy Juventus Sebastian Giovinco
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comments for this post
i admire this player,,
reasons being he and messi prove that it it how good at football you are and not how big or physical you are.as an upcoming footballer and one of the smallest in my semi pro team i admire this lad alot and he is going to be one of the greatest one day,,
alexis antonio valencia rodriguez,,,barnet under 14s