Marco Bustos is five-foot-six, yet symbolically, he was the tallest player on the pitch this year for Pacific FC.
The Island-based Canadian Premier League soccer franchise will keep the attacking midfielder, capped six times for sa国际传媒, in the fold by signing the 24-year-old Thursday for the 2021 season.
鈥淭he club has shown a lot of belief in me,鈥� said Bustos.
鈥淚t would have been a shame not to get to play at Westhills Stadium.鈥�
Bustos joined PFC this year and scored five goals, several of them deftly dazzling off the left foot, and added three assists for PFC in 10 games in the pandemic-abbreviated 2020 CPL season played in a bubble in Charlottetown, P.E.I.
Bustos was named finalist for 2020 CPL MVP along with the eventual winner of the award, 18-time sa国际传媒-capped Forge FC captain Kyle Bekker, and also Akeem Garcia of the HFX Wanderers of Halifax.
The PFC star wants to take that next step next year.
鈥淭he goal is to be the MVP and make it clear who is the best player in the league,鈥� said Bustos.
鈥淭here is always room to improve. I don鈥檛 want to be good at dribbling guys, I want to be excellent at it. I am working hard to get to the point where you don鈥檛 even have to think about doing the right things on the pitch 鈥� it just becomes a habit.鈥�
Continued improvement is what PFC is banking on from the water-bug quick ball mover and finisher, who made a combined 14 appearances for sa国际传媒 at the U-17 and U-20 levels.
鈥淏ustos is a player who has tremendous ability. He has shown qualities of an MVP player in this league and hopefully he will take the progress from this year into next season,鈥漵aid PFC head coach Pa Modou-Kah.
Bustos will join previously-signed PFC returnees Kadin Chung, Jordan Haynes, Abdou Samake, Lukas MacNaughton, Victor Blasco, Matthew Baldisimo, Alejandro Diaz, Josh Heard, Callum Irving, Terran Campbell, Marcel de Jong, Sean Young, Jamar Dixon, Thomas Meilleur-Gigu茅re, Nolan Wirth, Alessandro Hojabrpour and lone new signing Manny Aparicio.
The heavy emphasis on returnees is fine by Bustos because he saw promise in the roster as PFC made the four-team playoff round in Charlottetown.
鈥淚t was a short season but we showed in spurts what this team can be,鈥� said Bustos.
鈥淚 believe we are building toward a championship club.鈥�
Bustos had familiarity with PFC players such as Chung, Baldisimo and Blasco because they came up together in the Vancouver Whitecaps MLS Academy and Residency programs. Bustos and Chung formed an especially potent partnership in creating scoring chances for PFC in Charlottetown.
鈥淚t鈥檚 easier coming into a place with a lot of familiar faces and that helped me with the transition this year,鈥� said Bustos, who played in 2019 for his hometown Winnipeg Valour FC.
Bustos was asked about his projection for 2021.
鈥淗opefully, games in home stadiums are an option with some capacity allowed,鈥� he said.
Bustos will spend the winter training in Victoria.
鈥淢anitoba is in lockdown so it makes no sense going back there,鈥� said Bustos.
鈥淎t least you can still go outside in Victoria to run and train in the winter. Some people don鈥檛 like the rain but I don鈥檛 mind it. I got used to it in Vancouver [when in the Whitecaps system].鈥�
It makes you appreciate the sunny days all that much more, he added.
