Toronto FC's coach and players have expressed surprise and more than a little irritation at teammate Sebastian Giovinco being left off the Italian team for the European Championship.
Some of their ire was directed at Italy coach Antonio Conte, who said there were "consequences" to playing in Major League Soccer.
Veteran defender Drew Moor took to Twitter to rubbish that claim
"This is my 12th year in @MLS, haven't paid one 'consequence'... #Giovinco #EURO2016," he wrote.
Moor elaborated in an interview after training Tuesday.
"I personally 100 per cent believe (Giovinco) deserves to be there," he said. "I watch a lot of football around the world and if there's 30 Italian players better than him, then I haven't seen them all obviously. I feel bad for Seba. Selfishly we're happy he's going to be a little bit longer."
Giovinco, who continues to rewrite both the MLS and Toronto record book in just his second season in North America, trained Tuesday but did not speak to the media. The Atomic Ant, who played for Conte at Juventus, has one goal in 23 national team appearances.
To a man, Toronto players expressed their disappointment at their teammate being passed over.
"I don't think playing in MLS in any way takes away from the player that he is," said midfielder Will Johnson, who has played in Europe. "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 his comfort zone, that many of the other guys on that (Italy) team never do."
Toronto coach Greg Vanney, while acknowledging Conte's right to pick his own squad, said Giovinco's talents speak for themselves.
"Many of our guys have never played with anybody close to the level of Sebastian, so to see a guy of his calibre and the things he's capable of doing, and somebody's saying he's not quite good enough to make a team is kind of an awe-ing moment for guys. Myself included and I've been around some decent players in my time," said Vanney.
"Sebastian can do what he can do at any level. So I think a lot of guys see it as, yeah, it could be a slap in the face. Obviously (we're) disappointed for him, obviously elated that we still have him."
Vanney says Giovinco has been the best player in the North American league since he got there and had more than proved his worth on the international scene in his two Italy call-ups since coming to Toronto.
Vanney, who noted that Conte had originally supported Giovinco's move to MLS, also suggested his star forward will use the snub as motivation.
"Now he's not been selected, my anticipation is he will prove he should have been selected," said Vanney."So again all good things for us. We'll make sure that we'll give him plenty to do while he's here with us."
Said Johnson: "I don't know how you can boost where he's currently at, quite honestly. But if it's possible, Seba will find a way to do it."
The 29-year-old Giovinco has eight goals and five assists this season after winning the Golden Boot as the top scorer in MLS last year with 22 goals and 16 assists.
How important is Giovinco to TFC?
The elusive Italian has been directly involved in 13 of the team's 14 goals this season (92.9 per cent) and 51 of the team's 72 (70.8 per cent) including the 2015 campaign. Excluding Michael Bradley (away with the U.S. team) and injured striker Jozy Altidore, the other 20 outfield players on the team have combined for 82 goals in 1,398 career MLS games. And 50 of those come from Johnson and Moor.
Conte also ignored New York City FC star Andrea Pirlo, whose national team career appears over at 37.
"I spoke to Andrea," Conte said on Tuesday. "I sent people to America for seven days to evaluate him and Sebastian. It's clear that if you make such choices in football then at the end you might pay the consequences.
"We had people in Europe and abroad in order to get very clear ideas."
Not all coaches dismiss MLS.
Belgium, ranked second in the world behind Argentina in the FIFA rankings, has summoned Montreal Impact defender Laurent Ciman.
"Giovinco exclusion defies logic," tweeted Twaylor Twellman, a former U.S. international turned TV analyst.
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