| Toronto FC’s recent signing of Italian superstar Lorenzo Insigne is a stunning coup |
Soccer fans, Italians, and a combination of the two waited with bated breath as the England and Italy national soccer teams were performing penalty kicks on 11 July 2021, during the UEFA Euro 2020 Final. I can guarantee every soccer fan and Italian knew where they were while watching the final penalty kick save made by Italy’s twenty-two-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma (I was at my childhood home draped in a decade old Italia sweater cheering next to my Italian father.) Wembley Stadium in London, England erupted with cheers and cries as Italy took the title as the European Champions for the first time in just over fifty years.
Italy had a phenomenal unbeatable streak throughout the tournament with minimal goals scored against, complemented by remarkable pass possession. The team’s strong defense (arguably the best in the world) and patience in using the field’s space to set up the perfect central attack against the opposing defense led to their ultimate win. Toronto was in mayhem as crowds flocked out of their homes and bars and into the streets of Little Italy, Woodbridge, Vaughan, and other highly concentrated Italian-habited areas, celebrating the fantastic win with their friends and families. Italian soccer fans needed this win, especially since their laughable failure to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. With the 2022 World Cup in Qatar approaching in December, soccer fans can hardly wait for the Euro Champions, current FIFA Champions (France), and the Copa America Champions (Argentina) to duke it out on the international platform.
In Toronto, Italian soccer fans will surely congregate at local bars, friends’ homes, and other viewing areas to watch Italy compete. However, we won’t have to wait too long until we see soccer stadium magic, and this time it will be in our own backyard. Toronto FC has confirmed a four-year contract with Italy’s left-winger, Lorenzo Insigne. The Napoli captain will be joining the Toronto team after his current contract expires on 1 July 2022. Insigne made his national debut in 2012, totalling fifty-three appearances (playing in the 2014 World Cup, and the 2016 and 2020 Euro Cup) and ten international tournament goals. The five-foot-four and 130-pound Italian powerhouse addition to the team comes with a welcomed relief after Toronto FC’s dismal performance finishing second last out of 27 teams in last year’s MLS season.
Toronto FC has a long and complicated history of scoring all-star players in an attempt to boost their rankings and fan morale. Dating back to 2009, the club secured Scarborough-born superstar Dwayne De Rosario. De Rosario abruptly left in 2011 after contract complications, and false promises of a designated player contract never materialized. A designated player contract is a contract that allows a club to acquire up to three players “whose total compensation and acquisition costs exceed maximum salary budget charge,” according to the MLS website. Simultaneously as De Rosario rejoined the team in 2014 for a massive deal, Toronto FC scooped up English superstar Jermaine DeFoe for the most expensive transfer in club history. DeFoe’s failure to make the 2014 national English team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup most likely impacted his abrupt departure after one season. In 2015, the club secured the creative and versatile Italian offensive player, Sebastian Giovinco. Giovinco became the team’s highest earned player while earning the title as the club’s all-time top goal scorer. Giovinco contributed to the team’s runner up positions in 2016 and 2019, and 2017’s champion’s title. He acquired several accolades such as the MLS Golden Boot, the MLS Newcomer of the Year Award, the MLS MVP Award, the George Gross Memorial Trophy for the most valuable player of the Canadian Championship, and the CONCACAF Champions League Golden Ball during his time in Toronto. However, this soccer fairy-tale ended abruptly during contract disputes which led to yet another sudden departure in 2019 as Giovinco signed with the Saudi-Arabian team Al-Hilal. Giovinco’s departing words on an Instagram post summed up his feelings towards Toronto FC’s team, saying that “it seems management prefers to focus on things other than the pure desire to win”.
There have been other indications of instability with players such as Tim Bezbatchenko and Victor Vazquez leaving the team at the same time as Giovinco. A 2019 dispute between (then) coach Greg Vanney and Dutch player Gregory Van der Wiel led to the latter exiting the club two months after the altercation. Toronto FC has a decade-long history of unpredictable management choices of acquiring star players thinking it would solve short-term performance problems, only leading to unforeseen departures left and right. However, the 2014 acquisition of American midfielder Michael Bradley is an outlier in the club’s history of volatile player turnover. According to a sports blogging network, SB Nation, Bradley took a “massive pay cut to help improve the team” which could have contributed to the Insigne trade. With Insigne’s welcome summer arrival, the management needs to use this fresh start to keep their players happy and grow the team’s chemistry. Star players are important for any winning team, but the natural flow between these players, continuous practice to build up team trust, and management stability leads to a team’s success. While soccer fans assemble at the BMO field to catch a sight of the Italian star, management must take advantage of this frenzy to leave contract disputes and coach-player contentions in the past to welcome a new era of Toronto soccer.