TFC head coach Greg Vanney speaks to reporters during a training session at Olympic Stadium in Montreal on Nov. 21.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
The MLS Cup coaches talked up their star imports Monday, knowing the pint-sized packages could turn the tide in Saturday's championship game.
Uruguayan play maker Nicolas Lodeiro has been pulling the Sounders' strings since joining Seattle in late July from Argentine club Boca Juniors. Italian forward Sebastian Giovinco has been a human highlight reel the last two seasons since leaving Juventus for Toronto.
"A couple of guys have asked me here in Seattle what's the difference between a guy like Lodeiro and Giovinco," Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer told a media conference call on Monday. "To me the difference there is Giovinco is more of a forward who can pass the ball and Nico is a more of midfielder who can score.
Read more: Toronto FC striker Sebastian Giovinco named to MLS Best XI
"I think that is one of the interesting story lines to this match — Nico and Giovinco and their value to their respective teams."
Asked about the five-foot-four, 135-pound Giovinco, Toronto coach Greg Vanney said even the Italian's teammates are surprised by what they see him do with the ball.
"What he's able to do from a technical standpoint, sometimes at training we just kind of catch ourselves laughing at some of the things that he pulls off, and he pulls them off in a way that it just looks so simple," he said.
The 29-year-old Italian, named to the league's best eleven on Monday, led the league in combined goals (17) and assists (15) for a second-straight year despite missing six games through injury. He has four goals and four assists in the 2016 playoffs.
Lodeiro had four goals and eight assists in 13 regular-season games, with another four goals in the playoffs.
Vanney called the five-foot-seven, 150-pound Lodeiro "one of the best guys in our league at pulling the strings and moving the game around and finding very good spots."
The 27-year-old Uruguayan doesn't need much space to operate, Vanney added.
"He can unlock runs of other guys and he can impact a game."
Lodeiro also played in Brazil for Botafogo and Corinthians, in the Netherlands for Ajax and in Uruguay for Nacional.
Back in July, Seattle general manager Garth Lagerwey called Lodeiro's signing "a game-changer for us." Coinciding with Schmetzer taking over from Sigi Schmid as coach, it has proved true.
Seattle was 6-12-2 in ninth in the Western Conference when Schmetzer took charge. The Sounders have gone 12-3-4 since, including 4-1-0 in the playoffs.
Schmetzer said Seattle scouted Lodeiro extensively in person and on film before signing him.
"We did a lot of due diligence to make sure he was the right fit for our team," he said. "But he was almost better than what you saw on TV, better than what you saw him on film. I was never able to see him watch him live when he was playing at Boca.
"But from the minute he came on the training field, on the game-day field, he's been tremendous."
Lodeiro's salary is listed at $1.74 million (U.S.) — he would be getting a pro-rated portion given his late arrival — by the MLS Players Union while Giovinco's is $7.12 million.
Both are designated players.