Sebastian Giovinco (born January 26, 1987 in Turin) is an Italian footballer who plays for Serie A club Juventus. Giovinco is an attacking midfielder with noted dribbling and play-making skills.^[1]

Due to his short stature and his technical skills Giovinco acquired the nickname formica atomica (atom ant, after the eponymous Hanna-Barbera character) and although only being in the early stages of his footballing career, he is today considered one of the most promising Italian footballers.^[2]

Biography

Early life

Giovinco was born in Turin to Southern-Italian immigrant parents; his mother is from Catanzaro, Calabria and his father is from Palermo, Sicily.^[3] He grew up highly interested in football and impressed Juventus who brought him into their youth system in 2001, at the age of 14. He then rose through the youth system ranks of the club, impressing by winning the Campionato Primavera with the bianconeri in their 2005–06 campaign.

First team debut with Juventus

Giovinco was successively integrated into the Juventus first team and made his debut on May 12, 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.

Loan at Empoli

On July 4, 2007 he was loaned out to Empoli, a Tuscan Serie A team that also took part in the UEFA Cup 2007–08. Giovinco scored his first Serie A goal on September 30, 2007 when Empoli beat Palermo 3–1. His goal became the game winner.

Giovinco caused large media interest when he scored his second goal a few weeks later, on November 4. The goal was an equalizer in the last minute against Roma, it was a long distance curling free kick from the right wing, a goal which was compared by some pundits to Ronaldinho's against England in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Back to Juventus

On June 26, 2008 it was confirmed that Giovinco would return to Juventus for the 2008–2009 campaign, giving him the chance to play at the UEFA Champions League level as well.

Giovinco played his first match for Juventus against Catania on September 24, 2008. Giovinco substituted team mate Pavel Nedved late in second half, and played a great game assisting Amauri on Juventus' 1-0 goal. He scored his first goal with Juventus' jersey vs rivals Lecce on December 7, 2008 from a freekick. Giovinco has also scored goals against Catania in the Coppa Italia and another against Bologna in a man of the match display.

International career

Giovinco has represented Italy at every youth level from under-16s upwards. He was called up to Italy U-21 by head coach Pierluigi Casiraghi, on June 1, 2007 to make his first appearance at that level in a qualification match against Albania.^[4] He gave the assist for Acquafresca who scored. Italy U-21 won the match 0–1.

He also starred at the 2008 Toulon Tournament, where he was voted most valuable player, scoring two goals in the opening game against the Ivory Coast,^[5] and netting the winning penalty in the semifinal match against Japan.^[6] Italy ultimately won the competition, defeating Chile 1–0 in the final.

Giovinco then appeared in the 2008 Olympic Games for the Italian team. He scored the first goal in a 3–0 win against Honduras in the first match of the competition where he struck the ball from outside of the box with his left foot. He also had an impressive second match against South Korea. His Olympic adventure ended after Italy lost 3–2 to Belgium in the quarter-finals.

Honours

Club

Juventus:

• 2005–06 Torneo di Viareggio
• 2005–06 Campionato Primavera
• 2006–07 Serie B

National team

Italy U-21:

• 2008 International Tournament of Toulon

References

External links

• Giovinco's profile at Juventus Official Website

v • d • e Italy squad – 2008 Summer Olympics 1 Viviano • 2 Motta • 3 De Ceglie • 4 Nocerino • 5 Cigarini • 6 Criscito • 7 Montolivo • 8 Marchisio • 9 Rocchi • 10 Giovinco • 11 Rossi • 12 Dessena • 13 Coda • 14 Acquafresca • 15 Bocchetti • 16 De Silvestri • 17 Abate • 18 Consigli • 20 Candreva • 21 Russotto • Coach: Casiraghi