GOAL sat down with the USMNT midfielder to talk setbacks, bouncebacks and the passion for soccer in Italy
ORLANDO, Fla. – Hours before Venezia's visit to Inter, Gianluca Busio's phone illuminated with a text message. It was from his father. The message was … supportive?
Such is life growing up in a family of Serie A diehards: even your own family roots against you (well, a little bit at least) if you're wearing the wrong colors. From birth, Italian soccer has been in Busio's blood. Like thousands of kids who grow up far from Italy, the dream was to play in Serie A, the league his father and grandfather raised him on.
That dream came true. Busio made it. By signing with Venezia in 2021, he'd arrived in the league he'd always wanted to play in.
That would make a pretty nice ending to a story, wouldn't it? A kid living his family's dreams by playing against the teams he grew up watching? That implies that stories are straight lines, though. That's not the case for Busio's story. It's winding.
Busio is just 22, so in once sense, it's all just beginning. But even at that age, he's already been through relegation, promotion, World Cup dreams dashed and rekindled again. Busio has achieved everything he wanted to while watching Inter with his family as a kid in North Carolina, even if that same family has to root against him every now and then.
"The thing about Italian soccer is the passion they all have," Busio tells GOAL. "My dad is not a great soccer player. He's just not, but he loves the game. He's lived in Greensboro, North Carolina, for 30 years of his life now, and he's still watching Inter at 7 a.m."
Those are the feelings that soccer conjures in the Busio family, and they've kept the midfielder going on his circuitous journey to, out of and back to the top flight. Busio and Venezia are back now. He appreciates that more than ever.
Those same feelings are pushing him on with the U.S. men's national team, too, as he chases down another dream: a World Cup. Like his club career, his national team career has had ups and downs. He was introduced in 2021 and then left behind in 2022. Now, with another World Cup on the horizon, Busio is back in that mix, too, with another chance.
"It's not what I expected," Busio says of his journey, "but I think it's all helped me learn a lot about myself and what I wanted to do and the steps I wanted to take. I think this year has felt like the full circle moment for me. Obviously I have a lot more I want to accomplish and do, but I feel like this is just starting.
"Now, we're here. It's all the same battle, and it's kind of like a full-circle moment. I'm trying to cherish the moments because you never know how long they're going to last, but you also learn that you can always get another chance."
Busio is embracing that opportunity, largely because he knows how quickly it can all disappear.
GettyA dream dashed
By just signing with Venezia in 2021, Busio accomplished something special. Having emerged as a rising star with Sporting KC, he'd earned his move to the league of his dreams before his 20th birthday. Venezia bought him for a club-record fee, making him the centerpiece of their project. After taking the big leap from North Carolina to Kansas City, he was taking an even bigger one to his father's homeland.
"The more people I've met, the people that are Venetian, once you get into those spots, they're very calm and welcoming," Busio says of his adopted home in Venice. "It's more like in a family kind of way than like a fan who's just talking, you know? For me, I enjoy that. The city has always had the perfect vibe. Venice is really special."
As nice as the city is, the on-field project, at least in that first year, failed. Busio's honeymoon period in Serie A didn't last long. He quickly established himself as a regular, even scoring his first Serie A goal, but Venezia were always swimming upstream. By the end of the season, the club finished dead last. Busio and Venezia were heading to Serie B.
No one dreams of Serie B, at least not people in North Carolina. Losing out on that dream, whether temporarily or otherwise, was something Busio struggled to reckon with.
"I signed up to be a national team player and to play at the highest level – that's what you dream of," he says. "In MLS also, I didn't really know. There's no relegation or anything, so I was very new to it, and always thought that what I sign up for is what I'll get. The summer it happened, we always knew was coming, obviously, over the last couple months, but when it actually happened, it was kind of a shock. I think I was in that shock for a while.
"I think the start of that season in Serie B, I still wasn't even back fully. I had a tough year. It takes a while, especially if you're not prepared for it. It takes a lot, but you can't really prepare for it. I think once you get out of that, you realize that it gives you another goal: to get back to where you were. If you look at it more like that, then it becomes motivation for you, and that's what I took it as. It's something you don't sign up for, but something you know could come."
Busio and the club spent two seasons in Serie B. The fightback wasn't immediate. Like Busio, the club as a whole needed a bit of a wakeup to reclaim that Serie A dream. It came last season.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesBreakout season
As Busio admits, the 2022-23 season was rough. The American didn't contribute to a single goal in 28 appearances as the club finished eighth to stay in the second division. The longer a team hangs around in a lower league, the harder the bounceback comes. It felt like time was against everyone.
Busio, alongside fellow USMNT midfielder Tanner Tessmann, powered the team forward. Busio put up seven goals and five assists. Tessmann added seven and three, earning a summer move to Lyon in the process. With the two Americans helping to lead the charge, Venzia won the promotion playoff, earning a place back in Serie A.
"Last year, we had the perfect setup," Busio said. "Obviously, I was with Tanner. He was the six, and we had a good relationship. This was our first year where the keys were really given to us. After the first three games, it was like, 'You guys are the starters and whatever happens, happens, but I trust you guys'. [Paolo] Vanoli, one of the best coaches I've had, he told me exactly what he saw and how it could work in an all-around midfielder way. I think the balance we had was just perfect, where I had that freedom, but also that responsibility that he gave in the defensive side.
"I think it was all set up for me. Then, obviously it was my turn to prove him right and show that. He gave me confidence, but it was also something that I always knew I could do. It was just a matter of putting it all together. I think that year was the year I really put it all together."
That season has now laid the foundation for Busio, who has returned to Serie A a very different player than the one who left.
Getty Images SportNot your father's Serie A midfielder
Busio, like many who grew up in Serie A, knows what the league was like. He remembers the Andrea Pirlo era, one where a team's No. 6 was a genius, a maestro, a tone-setter, but not necessarily an engine.
Those types of players are all but gone these days, largely because they can't exist anymore. The game is too quick. Even in a league like Serie A, the game has sped up.
"I grew up watching and it was very calm and defensive," Busio says. "It always seemed like you had a little bit of time. I watch games now, like in the Champions League, and I think like that too. Once you get there, though, it feels different. I think especially in Italy, because I grew up watching it, I knew that it was very tactical.
"That's the main thing that makes everything look a little more organized. You have more time because, the players, everyone's where they should be. They're so smart and tactical, and their coach has spent two weeks before the game making sure they play this way. In the game, though, you're kind of like thinking, 'Yeah, I'm open', but really, there's nothing.
The learning curve is real, both from a physical and tactical perspective.
"To make your name and stay there, you have to be able to handle that," he said. "The league is athletic now. It's a lot faster and stronger but, even still, at the core, it's still Italian. It's still playing with your brains and your feet."
Busio himself has evolved as a midfielder. Playing at times as a No. 10, his ability on the ball is what set him apart at Sporting KC. He was so, so smooth. Despite being among the youngest players on the field, Busio was also among the most composed, particularly with the ball at his feet. It was Peter Vermes, Sporting KC's longtime coach, who said his future would be a little further back, though.
"The one thing that he can do at the six is that he has an incredible engine," Vermes said in 2021. "He's dynamic and has athleticism, so he can cover a ton of ground. He's incredibly, incredibly good on the ball. You can use him in the build-up, you can use him on the counter. He can give the final pass.
"You know how Pirlo was a deep-lying playmaker? He has those qualities in him and at the same time, he's got a pop from distance. He also can then adapt and be a ball-winner and grind the game out if he has to from a defensive perspective. Just his progression in 1v1 defending in certain games, it's astounding for me."
Busio doesn't really see himself in any one position. Maybe an eight, if forced to define himself.
"I've learned not to care as much," Busio says. "You can want to be an eight and stick to that position, but now eights have to be like sixes and 10s. It's weird like that."
He'll play wherever, though. After a few tough years, the key is to keep playing, keep learning and keep taking chances.
"I love the game enough," he says. "I'll always be a student. I think if you play me a 10 for a season, every game, I think I can do everything you ask. Maybe it'll take a while and I'll have ups and downs, I'll probably struggle, but I'll learn enough and love the game enough to learn and try to do that position. With the six, when I was playing six, I was studying Pirlo and all these guys who weren't athletic freaks but control the game still. I fully buy into wherever you're playing me."
Getty ImagesReturning to the USMNT
Busio sees so many parallels between his club and national team career.
"It's exactly what I what I was going through in Venice," he says. "This is exactly like that path."
The 22-year-old's first call-up came in 2021. He made his USMNT debut in the Gold Cup that summer, announcing himself as a contender for the 2022 World Cup. It didn't happen. After eight appearances in 2021, he fell out of the picture as Venezia were relegated, making just one appearance in 2022. At the time, Busio was on the outside looking in on both sides of the Atlantic.
"I did well, I got in the team and the World Cup was coming up at that time, so obviously, it's all good," Busio recalls. "You get called up the first couple times and it's all fun and games. Then it gets serious and you're looking at your performances at your club and that's when it all got real to me. I wasn't playing well with my club at the time, so I felt like I had to get caught up. Any player is going to think that. I knew what I had to do, though. I had to fix things at Venezia before I could even think about this.
"I just kept thinking to myself, 'Just stay in the conversation and, once you get that chance, you'll have to take it.' "
Much like his club career, though, Busio has played his way back. He was a member of the U.S. squad at the 2023 Gold Cup and the 2024 Summer Olympics. He's been with the USMNT for both camps under Mauricio Pochettino, too, as he's looked to establish himself under the new coach. He shined in Pochettino's first game, a 2-0 win over Panama, running the show in midfield. Busio, like the rest of the USMNT, struggled a bit in the game after, falling to Mexico in Guadalajara.
"I think it's something that we know now with the new coach and the new energy that we're trying to build, but it's not perfect," Busio says. "There's going to be games, for a while probably, that are going to be tough, but we always have to look at us, 'Yeah, these games are going to be another experience'. I think it's just taking it and moving forward with the new coach. We all know what he's like. We're all excited, and I think that all that energy will be transformed into something pretty special."
The USMNT is preparing to play a pair of Nations League quarterfinals against Jamaica this week, and the entire squad is adjusting to the standard Pochettino has set, Busio included.
"I'm learning still, and it isn't anything too specific with the ideas," he said. "It all makes sense, but he demands such a high level. That's one thing that you always have to be up and ready for. I think once you have that, once you demand that level and get to that, the tactics will figure itself out. I think we're all smart enough."
Everyone is figuring that out now. The 2026 World Cup is creeping ever closer, and Busio knows how much things can change in a year-and-a-half. Impressions are both vital and fleeting – what matters most is consistency.
"It's just little things that I can do to keep myself in the running, and then knowing that, having confidence in myself that I'll do well enough in the club to get a real shot," he says. "It's been going well so far but, like I said, I think it all depends on the club and performances here in the games. I'm not overlooking anything. I'm staying grounded."
Until then, the Serie A dream continues. Busio and Venezia are facing a fight again this season. They're in the relegation zone as things stand, but there's still a lot of season left. Busio has learned not to look too far ahead when it comes to both his club and his national team.
There's still so much left to play for, a World Cup on the horizon. Who knows? Perhaps Busio will in the middle of the field for a clash between the USMNT and Italy one day. It'd be interesting to know what his family says then, right?