Gianluca Busio
![]() Busio with Sporting Kansas City in 2019 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Gianluca Cristiano Busio | ||
Date of birth | May 28, 2002 | ||
Place of birth | Greensboro, North Carolina, United States | ||
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Sporting Kansas City | ||
Number | 27 | ||
Youth career | |||
2015–2016 | North Carolina Fusion | ||
2016–2017 | Sporting Kansas City | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2017– | Sporting Kansas City | 48 | (5) |
2018– | Sporting Kansas City II | 16 | (1) |
International career‡ | |||
2016–2017 | United States U15 | 8 | (3) |
2017–2019 | United States U17 | 15 | (6) |
2020– | United States U20 | 2 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of November 13, 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of January 16, 2020 |
Gianluca Cristiano Busio[1] (born May 28, 2002) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club Sporting Kansas City. Born in the United States, Busio is of Italian heritage.
Club career
Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, Busio joined the Sporting Kansas City academy in 2016 from North Carolina Fusion.[2]
On August 25, 2017, Busio signed a Homegrown Player contract with Sporting Kansas City, making him the youngest player to sign with an MLS club since Freddy Adu joined D.C. United in 2004.[3]
He made his professional debut on April 4, 2018, appearing for Sporting Kansas City's United Soccer League affiliate side, Swope Park Rangers, starting in a 1–0 win over Colorado Springs Switchbacks.[4] Busio went on to make his first MLS appearance for Sporting Kansas City on July 28 as a 77th-minute substitute in a 3–2 loss against FC Dallas. One week later, on August 4, Busio made his first MLS start for Sporting in a chippy match against the Houston Dynamo, which saw three red cards, eight yellow cards, and 28 total fouls.[5] He provided his first career assist on a 74th-minute goal for teammate Diego Rubio, which proved to be the winner in a 1–0 match. Busio was the third youngest player to start a match in MLS history.[6]
International career
In October 2019, he was named to the United States squad for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil.[7]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played October 6, 2020[8]
Club | League | Season | League | League Cup | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
Sporting Kansas City II | USL Championship | 2017 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
2018 | 10 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | ||||
2019 | 5 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | 1 | |||||
2020 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
Club Total | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 | ||
Sporting Kansas City | MLS | 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
2018 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 8 | 1 | |||
2019 | 22 | 3 | — | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 3 | |||
2020 | 15 | 1 | — | — | — | 15 | 1 | |||||
Club Total | 44 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 49 | 5 | ||
Career Total | 65 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 69 | 6 |
Personal life
Busio is of Italian descent through his Brescia-born father, and holds Italian citizenship. He is of African American background on his mother's side.[9] He has an older sister, Ilaria and an older brother, Matteo, who plays soccer at UNC-Charlotte, and whom Gianluca lists as his biggest inspiration.[1]
References
- ^ a b "Gianluca Busio | U.S. Soccer Official Website". www.ussoccer.com. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
- ^ "Gianluca Busio Profile - Sporting Kansas City". ussoccerda.com. U.S. Soccer Development Academy. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
- ^ "SKC's Busio second-youngest-player in MLS history". si.com. Sports Illustrated. August 25, 2017. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
- ^ "2018 - Swope Park Rangers vs Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC - uslsoccer.com". uslsoccer.com. United Soccer League. Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
- ^ "Houston Dynamo v Sporting KC Live Commentary & Result, 8/5/18, MLS". goal.com. Goal. August 5, 2018. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
- ^ Zeitlin, David (August 4, 2018). "Sporting KC's Gianluca Busio becomes 3rd-youngest player to start MLS game". mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
- ^ "Head Coach Raphael Wicky Names USA Roster for 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil". www.ussoccer.com. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ "Khiry Shelton profile". Soccerway.com. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
- ^ "Gianluca Busio, il futuro del calcio USA dall'animo italiano". mlssocceritalia.com (in Italian). MLS Soccer Italia. April 27, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Gianluca Busio at Sporting Kansas City
- Gianluca Busio at Soccerway
- 2002 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from Greensboro, North Carolina
- Homegrown Players (MLS)
- Sporting Kansas City players
- Sporting Kansas City II players
- African-American soccer players
- Association football forwards
- Soccer players from North Carolina
- USL Championship players
- United States men's youth international soccer players
- American soccer players
- American sportspeople of Italian descent
- Major League Soccer players