Bustos awaits ex-mates

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This article was published 24/08/2020 (2194 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Marco Bustos didn’t waste any time showing why Pacific FC made the Winnipegger the highest-paid player in the Canadian Premier League.

In his debut match with the Victoria-based club, Bustos had a beautiful finish in the 75th minute against HFX Wanderers FC on Aug. 15 to give Pacific a 2-1 edge. The match end in a 2-2 tie when HFX scored on a penalty.

Tonight, the 24-year-old attacking midfielder who grew up in the Maples will have a chance to remind some familiar faces how dangerous he is when he has the ball at his feet as Pacific goes head to head with Valour FC (1-1-1) at 7 p.m. CT. Bustos led Winnipeg’s professional soccer club with eight goals last year before he decided in the off-season to take his talents out west. He will become the first Manitoban to play against Valour — a team that has prided itself on signing local talent.

“It gives a different taste to the game when you’re playing against a (former team),” Bustos said on Monday. “Obviously, Valour had a big turnover on the squad so I’m not playing all my teammates from last year, but there are a decent amount of them. It’s fun, but I take every game the same way, whether it’s against my friends or guys I don’t know. I always want to win and on the field, no one’s a friend and I’m playing with my teammates. Off the field, it’s a different story.”

Bustos can’t afford to get distracted by his old club as Pacific desperately needs three points after opening the Island Games — the Canadian Premier League’s single-site tournament in Charlottetown, P.E.I. to crown a league champion — with a 0-2-1 record. Only the top four clubs in the eight-team circuit advance to the second stage of the tournament.

“I don’t know what they’ve said about me in their locker room, but I’m not one to talk smack or anything. I’ve never been like that,” said Bustos.

“Even though we’re quite close, I prefer to stay quiet and do my talking on the field. Everyone is still trying to find their rhythm, including ourselves. It’s not easy going into a tournament without playing any games prior to a tournament. So I think now we’re finally getting a feeling of ourselves and now it’s ‘How do we get the three points?’ I think (tonight) is going to be a good day for us.”

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But you have to admit, a goal against your hometown club would be extra special, no? Bustos wouldn’t budge.

“It’d be like any other goal,” he said.

“Any time you score it means a lot. Obviously, scoring in an important game, which we do have (tonight) is great, but like I said, I’m one of those where three points and a group performance comes before me scoring or getting an assist.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.