The Good News and The Bad News of Sebastian Giovinco's Italy Euro 2016 Snub

Italy's provisional 30-man squad for Euro 2016 was announced today, and Sebastian Giovinco's name was nowhere to be found. This all but confirms the fact that the atomic ant will not be representing Italy this summer in France. 

All provisional squads will  be whittled down to 23 men at the end of the month, so even with an injury, the chances of seeing Giovinco in an Italian shirt this summer are slim to none. Several reports throughout the past month indicated that Giovinco had only an outside chance of making the team, but today confirms that sentiment.

This comes as good news and bad news for Toronto FC. With the squad already struggling to find offence, losing by far their best weapon would have come as a big blow for TFC. The atomic ant has been involved in all but one goal that Toronto has scored this season.

So far this season Toronto FC's offense has been pretty one dimensional, had that one dimension left for Euros things might have gotten ugly quickly. This is especially true since Toronto FC are still a month away from being able to add a new striker during the summer transfer window.

The bad new, however, is that Giovinco really did deserve a spot on the team. There really is very little more he could have done at the MLS level. Giovinco won three major awards, the Golden Boot, the MVP award and newcomer of the year. This year he has 8 goals and 5 assists in just 12 matches this season.

For Toronto FC and Major League Soccer, having the exposure of a player playing in one of the biggest soccer tournament's in the world is always a positive. Especially if Giovinco played well at the tournament, it would prove that MLS is getting a lot closer to a World Cup level.

Finally, there is the Jermain Defoe effect. It is widely speculated the Defoe missing out on the 2014 World Cup was something he blamed on playing with Toronto FC, and ,as a result, his relationship with the club soured. However, Giovinco has only ever shown how much he loves this club and city since coming over. It is highly unlikely that a similar situation develops.

Here is the full Italy 30-man provisional roster for Euro 2016. This roster will be trimmed down to 30 players by May 31 who will represent the official tournament roster.

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Federico Marchetti (Lazio), Salvatore Sirigu (Paris Saint-Germain)

Defenders: Davide Astori (Fiorentina), Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Angelo Ogbonna (West Ham), Daniele Rugani (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Manchester United), Mattia De Sciglio (Milan), Davide Zappacosta (Torino)

Midfielders: Marco Benassi (Torino), Giacomo Bonaventura (Milan), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Emanuele Giaccherini (Bologna), Jorginho (Napoli), Riccardo Montolivo (Milan), Thiago Motta (Paris Saint-Germain), Marco Parolo (Lazio), Stefano Sturaro (Juventus), Federico Bernardeschi (Fiorentina), Antonio Candreva (Lazio), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma)

Forwards: Eder (Inter), Ciro Immobile (Torino), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Graziano Pelle (Southampton), Simone Zaza (Juventus)