Why former Sporting Kansas City star Busio won’t play Tuesday (but still loves KC)

Former Sporting Kansas City star Gianluca Busio didn’t wear the team’s traditional blue kit for his most recent appearance at Children’s Mercy Park.

The year was 2021 and the former young Sporting KC phenom donned the white shirt and navy shorts of the U.S. Men’s National Team. The U.S. went on to win the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and four days later, Busio commanded a record incoming transfer fee for Sporting KC as he was shipped to Venezia FC.

After three years in Italy, Busio, who turned 22 last month, is back in Kansas City to represent his country again. This time, he’s preparing for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

The national team’s pre-Olympic camp and other preparations will take place at the Compass Minerals National Performance Center in Kansas City, Kan. On Tuesday night, the USMNT’s under-23 squad will play Japan’s U-23s in a final tuneup for the Summer Games.

Unfortunately, Busio will not be able to play this week after sustaining an injury in Venezia’s final game of the season. He provided an assist on the goal that sent Venezia back to Serie A, the top division in Italian pro soccer.

“I don’t think I did the best recovery for (the injury) the last three days after the game,” Busio said during halftime of Sporting KC’s 2-1 victory over the Seattle Sounders on Saturday.

Busio said he’s relished being back in Kansas City. He’s staying with current Sporting KC player Jake Davis, who remains one of his closest friends.

Speaking of his time with Sporting KC, Busio offered a glimpse of how much he has grown since then. Not that he was ever really immature — even after signing a homegrown deal with KC at the tender age of 14, he exuded confidence.

But there’s something to be gained from experiencing the trials and tribulations of promotion and relegation in a country with a raging fever for the game of soccer — like Italy. Busio joined the Venezia team at 19 and received a quick dose of reality during his first season overseas.

Venezia struggled in Italy’s top flight, and at times Busio did, too. After one year in Serie A, Venezia was demoted to Serie B and found itself fighting to avoid back-to-back relegation the following season.

“You have that feeling, ‘We have to be good, right? We have to go right back up. We were just in the first division,’” Busio recalled. “It was the total opposite. It was still like a punch in the face.”

Venezia survived: After winning the Promotion Playoff final against Cremonese, Busio’s overseas club is headed right back up to Serie A. And that sort of adversity may have helped Busio grow the most.

“(I’ve) changed a lot, and in good ways,” he said. “But with a lot of ups and downs. So I know that it’s not gonna be a straight path further on down the road.”

Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes, who has monitored Busio’s progress from afar, agreed that playing in a promotion/relegation setting will serve his former pupil well throughout the rest of his career.

“That will pay huge dividends for him in the future,” Vermes said. “It (shows) him growing as a professional. I’m proud of him from that point.”

Busio was eager to explore his Italian heritage, which he claims from his father’s side of the family. That was part of the reason he was excited to play for Venezia.

And now, with the Olympics in France on the horizon, he has a chance to fulfill another lifelong dream. He can remember watching the Olympics as a kid with his family.

“My mom always jokes she wants to have a shirt that says ‘My son is an Olympian,’” Busio said. “We take a lot of pride in the Olympics, and it’s a pretty cool experience for them. So I’m hoping to get on that roster.”

Busio’s injury should heal in a few weeks and he’s more or less a shoo-in for Paris. The USMNT’s U-23 squad will open the Games against the host nation.

Provided he makes the final roster, Busio said he’ll happily represent both KC and his home state of North Carolina. He said he feels like he was “made in Kansas.”

“It’ll be a mixture of family and friend in both places,” he said. “But kind of what built into the chance that I get, if I do make (the roster), is Kansas. So I think both will have an equally special palace in my heart.”

The U-23 national team’s match against Japan’s U-23 national team kicks off at 7 p.m. Central Time on Tuesday evening at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kan.