Sebastian Giovinco

Major League Soccer may be a retirement home for some, but David Villa affirmed last week you can still factor into one of the best national teams in the world while plying your trade in MLS.

So why can’t Sebastian Giovinco get a recall from Italy?

Villa earned a spot on the Spanish roster for the two upcoming World Cup qualifiers after starting the season with 19 league goals for New York City FC. These aren’t throw-away qualifiers either; Spain faces Italy for first place in UEFA Group G on Saturday. 

A Sebastian Giovinco double helped Toronto FC to a 4-0 victory over Eastern Conference rivals New York City FC on Sunday. Giovinco skipped around an attempted tackle from Andrea Pirlo like he wasn’t even there (which is close to the truth) and curled in his first goal from distance.

Toronto FC furthered its record as the most successful club in the history of the 10-year Canadian Championship by winning the competition for a sixth time and confirming their place in the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League. The win was achieved in dramatic fashion with the inspirational Sebastian Giovinco scoring the match-winner in the 95th minute.

An announced crowd of 26,539 was on hand for the second leg at Toronto’s BMO Field with the final finely poised after a 1-1 draw in the first leg at Montreal’s Stade Saputo. 

Two of Major League Soccer’s biggest clubs threw down last night in a clash featuring the most expensive roster in the league (Toronto FC) and the third most expensive (Orlando City). Those numbers are, in large part, due to the fact that the Eastern Conference sides boast the only two players that earn above $7 million per season — Toronto’s Sebastian Giovinco and Orlando’s Kaka. The two did not disappoint.

Big ups to Steve Fenn (@StatHunting) for breaking down MLS wages by team and player in a brilliantly interactive infographic. You can get lost in this masterpiece for hours.

It’s official: MLS will have a first-time Cup champion on Saturday. The MLS Cup winner will be either the Seattle Sounders or Toronto FC, both teams making their MLS Cup debuts. The two sides will meet in the 21st MLS Cup on December 10, 2016.

Both clubs boast massive fan support that has, to varying degrees, suffered since arriving in MLS. After two straight years of huge player investment and stadium upgrades, Toronto enter as the favorites at home and under the majority of the pressure. 

As international football heaves its bloated corpse over the horizon of our collective attentions, trying to find any kernel of interest becomes increasingly tough. Because of this, we have the British Isles wrestling with the political absurdity of trying to cram as many poppies as possible into one fixture, Lionel Messi hoping that colouring in his tattoos will help Argentina win in Brazil, someone called Radamel Falcao starting to scoring goals again and a certain section of North London declaring war on the sovereign state of Chile due to the possibility of one man’s muscle tear.

The difference in quality between the Premier League and Major League Soccer is there for all to see. There is an extreme gulf in the type of players associated with both divisions, but that doesn't mean there aren't some promising stars playing in America that would be able to transition over to England.

Sometimes all you need is a chance to be noticed, and the MLS is packed full of talent that all deserve the chance to show their quality in front of a larger audience. In particular, these are five of the best.

Sebastian Giovinco - Toronto FC