Sebastian Giovinco, one of the best goal scorers in MLS, has been left off of the Fan XI for the 2015 All-Star Game. Why is a player with 11 goals and eight assists in his short MLS career not recognized by the fans who watch him week in and week out?
The Italian forward has made a huge impact on both his club and the MLS as a whole. His performance against New York City FC in which he scored a first half hat trick exemplified the ability that Giovinco has. He is a proven goal scorer who can be put into the same caliber as Clint Dempsey, David Villa and Obafemi Martins. Giovinco's output of goals and assists is just as good, if not better, than those of the three forwards voted into the eleven.
Toronto FC fans should be ashamed of themselves that they did not earn Giovinco the honor that he deserves. They should be highly satisfied with their new goal scoring machine and recognize that he should be in the MLS All-Star Game starting eleven. This occurrence shows how far soccer in America still has to go, the fact that MLS fans cannot recognize the talent of Giovinco, is simply disappointing.
Fans of MLS continue to be drawn to big name players; they will never watch a game but will assume that Kaka and Villa are the best players in the league. Although Villa and Kaka may very well deserve to be included in the All-Star game, it highlights the inability of fans to recognize true talent. They are immediately drawn to names they recognize rather than analyzing statistics, they simply pick the names that they know. Giovinco may not be a very popular player amongst some MLS fans, but his talent does deserve to be recognized.
It remains to be seen whether he will be included in the full roster, but there is no question that Sebastian Giovinco deserves to be on that pitch. He is one of the best players in MLS and it is time for the fans to start appreciating the talent of the Toronto FC forward.