Italy Coach Antonio Conte’s MLS Snub Highlights Strengths, Weaknesses Of U.S. Soccer

Leave it to Antonio Conte to tell some hard truths about U.S. Soccer.

Conte, the coach of Italy’s national team, omitted Sebastian Giovinco and Andrea Pirlo from their country’s squad for the 2016 UEFA European Championship.

Conte’s decision to snub of Giovinco and Pirlo, who play for Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC and New York City FC, reverberated in Italy, Europe and North America, as did his reasoning.

“I spoke to Andrea, I needed to hear from him and we sent people to the U.S.,” Conte said at a press conference Tuesday at Italy’s headquarters in Florence, Italy, according to Football Italia. “However, we’ve made other choices and you have to accept them and deal with the consequences. Nothing was left to chance.

“We evaluated him and Giovinco, it’s normal that if you choose to go and play there (MLS) then you can pay the consequences in footballing terms.

“We evaluated them technically, we didn’t leave anything to chance. Anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong, we went everywhere to have clear and precise ideas.

“I picked the 30 who I think will give me the most guarantees.”

Since taking charge of Italy following its 2014 FIFA World Cup disaster, Conte has presided over 18 games. Giovinco appeared in six of them, with only two coming after he left Juventus for Toronto in January 2015. Pirlo has appeared in four of Italy’s games under Conte, with only one coming after his July 2015 transfer from Juventus to the Big Apple.

Pirlo is an Italy legend, having played a part in the Azzurri’s 2006 World Cup triumph and their runner-up finish at Euro 2012 during his 14-year international career. But at age 37 and demonstrating diminishing powers through his play in MLS, Pirlo warrants the respect of a phone call from Conte rather than an automatic place in his squad.

Since making his Italy debut in 2011, Giovinco, 29, never secured a regular spot on Conte’s, or predecessor Cesare Prandelli’s, national teams. His failure to keep a starting spot at Juventus over eight seasons — two working with Conte as head coach — established his reputation as one of Italy’s proverbial “on the bubble” players, and his season-plus of outright dominance in MLS couldn’t change those perceptions.

Both Conte’s Pirlo omission and his preference for Lorenzo Insigne over Giovinco were technical decisions. His suggestions that playing in MLS weakened them as players are facts of life for soccer in America. Conte joins legions of leading soccer players, coaches and fans who consider stateside soccer to be second-rate, at best.

The proximity of those opinions to truth itself embodies the mystique of MLS and soccer in this country.

That the world’s best players strut their stuff at big clubs around the world is neither secret nor reason for shame. The United States continues to attract and produce good players. Like any country it wants and needs more great ones.

Can they reach and maintain their peak level playing on U.S. soil?

While Conte probably doesn’t think so, the reaction of his snubs suggest many observers see U.S. Soccer as a viable stage on which they should perform to the best of their abilities and prepare for the toughest competitions.

Neither Conte’s nor opposing viewpoints will solve the “how strong is MLS and soccer in America?” riddle. The Conte, Pirlo, Giovinco saga doesn’t answer the question. Their respective careers are at the wrong time and place to do so.

But the fact that’s it’s a discussion topic in Florence, Rome, Milan, Turin, New York, Toronto, Boston and elsewhere is nothing short of a triumph, especially considering what the debate would have sounded like in the summers of 2006 or 1996.

Thumbnail photo via Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports Images