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 Canada, in the fold by signing the 24-year-old Thursday for the 2021 season.
“The club has shown a lot of belief in me,” said Bustos.
“It would have been a shame not to get to play at Westhills Stadium.”
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 Canada-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.
“The goal is to be the MVP and make it clear who is the best player in the league,” said Bustos.
“There is always room to improve. I don’t 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’t even have to think about doing the right things on the pitch – it just becomes a habit.”
Continued improvement is what PFC is banking on from the water-bug quick ball mover and finisher, who made a combined 14 appearances for Canada at the U-17 and U-20 levels.
“Bustos 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,”said 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-Giguére, 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.
“It was a short season but we showed in spurts what this team can be,” said Bustos.
“I believe we are building toward a championship club.”
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.
“It’s easier coming into a place with a lot of familiar faces and that helped me with the transition this year,” said Bustos, who played in 2019 for his hometown Winnipeg Valour FC.
Bustos was asked about his projection for 2021.
“Hopefully, games in home stadiums are an option with some capacity allowed,” he said.
Bustos will spend the winter training in Victoria.
“Manitoba is in lockdown so it makes no sense going back there,” said Bustos.
“At least you can still go outside in Victoria to run and train in the winter. Some people don’t like the rain but I don’t mind it. I got used to it in Vancouver [when in the Whitecaps system].”
It makes you appreciate the sunny days all that much more, he added.
