Busio: ‘I didn’t know which division Venezia played in’
Venezia’s 19-year-old midfielder Gianluca Busio admitted he didn’t know in which division the club played. ‘When I realised it was Serie A, I had no doubts’.
The youngster arrived at the ArancioNeroVerde from Sporting Kansas City ahead of 2021-22 and has played six Serie A games since his arrival.
Busio didn’t play the first game against Napoli due to visa issues but has played ever since and scored his first goal in the last match against Cagliari.
His father is from Brescia and followed Inter in Serie A, while Gianluca followed in his brother Matteo’s footsteps when he decided to play football.
“Dad is an Inter fan and every week he watches the Serie A broadcast in the United States,” Busio told Sportweek.
“Then my brother also played football, and I wanted to imitate him. Now, Matteo is keeping me company here in Italy.
“Until two years ago, he was better, even if it was due to his physique. He’s five years older than me, it’s obvious that, especially as kids, it was difficult to take the ball away from him or win a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge.
“Now I can say that, yes, I’m a little better than him.”
The youngster was already among the professionals at 15 in America but admitted it’s a bit easier to succeed in his homeland.
“It’s easier because in America the focus is not on football,” he added. “There are many more important sports, because they attract more fans and attention. Like baseball, basketball, American football.
“It’s not to say it’s easy to become a footballer: the movement is growing rapidly, but even in the next few years it will not be comparable to Serie A, for example.”
And Busio explained the difference of playing in the Italian top flight.
“Your football is faster, more tactical and more aggressive,” he said. “In this sense there’s no comparison with the American game.
“There are no margins for error here: if you make a mistake, you are punished. You will concede a goal. In MLS it doesn’t necessarily work like that.
“And then, in Italy the players are even more physically structured.”
Paolo Zanetti has given Busio the opportunity to play at Venezia and the young midfielder revealed he has learned a lot in the first months.
“Each of us knows how to move and what to do when we defend, every detail is studied, for the different departments and for individuals,” he said.
“When we have the ball at our feet, we are given more freedom. For a creative player like me, that’s important.”
Busio revealed he didn’t really know that Venezia had won promotion to Serie A when they called to ask about his availability.
“I had already been to Venice,” he said. “But I didn’t know which League the club played in, but yes. When I saw that they were playing in Serie A, I had no doubts.”
There have been several cases of racism during his first months in Italian football and the teenager said he will do ‘everything in my power to fight’ discrimination.
“I didn’t suffer discrimination in the States, no,” he said. “But I have several friends who had to deal with racism.
“I’m convinced that slowly, little by little, certain prejudices will disappear. If they insult me? I would certainly report it to anyone who can intervene.
“And I will certainly always do everything in my power to fight racism. Which is something we shouldn’t even have to talk about today.
“But these are difficult discussions for me. Basically, I’m just a 19-year-old boy who is entering life.”
#Busio: ‘Non sapevo neanche che campionato facesse il #Venezia. Papà tifa #Inter, ogni weekend…’ https://t.co/iyueOJpB63 pic.twitter.com/NJKdkEUV0N
— calciomercato.com (@cmdotcom) October 9, 2021