Nelson Bustamante

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Bustamante and the second or maternal family name is Lorca.

Nelson Bustamante

Personal information
Full name	Nelson Maximiliano Bustamante Lorca
Date of birth	(1992-12-23) 23 December 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth	San Bernardo, Santiago, Chile[1]
Height	1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s)	Shadow-striker, attacking midfielder
Youth career
2007	Universidad Católica
2007–2011	Brescia
2011–2012	Bologna
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2013	Lecce	4	(0)
2014–2015	Matera	2	(0)
2016	Verbania	11	(0)
2016–2017	Virtus Bolzano	15	(1)
2017	Santiago Morning	10	(2)
2018	Barnechea	5	(0)
2024	Glorias Navales
Total		47	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nelson Maximiliano Bustamante Lorca (born 23 December 1992) is a Chilean former footballer who played as a forward.[2][3]

Early life

Bustamante was born in San Bernardo, Chile, and developed a passion for football from his father, who played for a local team.[4] As a child, he would tell his father that he was going to mow lawns for money, but would instead go to dribble a football on the local streets, earning money from passers-by.[4] In 2007, while performing on a street corner, he was spotted by Chilean investigative news show Contacto [es], run by Canal 13, and following the report, he was taken on by a group of businessmen, including agent René Curiaz and former footballer Frank Lobos.[4][5][6]

Club career

Early career

Curiaz and Lobos offered him to top-flight Chilean sides Colo-Colo and Universidad Católica, and he spent some time with the latter, but as they were unable to provide growth hormone treatment for his growth hormone deficiency,[7] the same condition that afflicted his idol, Lionel Messi, he opted to move to Italy, joining the academy of Brescia.[4] In 2011, he was released by Brescia, who deemed his short stature not an appropriate height to progress as a professional footballer, and he joined Bologna, though he only spent six months with the club before again being released.[5][6]

Lecce

In October 2012, he joined Lega Pro Primera Divisione side Lecce, with the club's managing director, Antonio Tesoro, stating that he was a "great talent", comparing him to Argentine player Maximiliano Moralez.[8][9] He made his professional debut shortly after joining, playing in Lecce's 1–0 Coppa Italia Lega Pro win over Nocerina on 18 October.[10] The following month, he scored his first goal for the club in Lecce's 5–1 Coppa Italia Lega Pro win against Aprilia.[5][11]

Matera and Serie D

By May 2013, Bustamante found himself training separately from the Lecce first team.[12] He was released by the club, and went on to join fellow Lega Pro side Matera the following summer.[13] In December 2015, having been released by Matera, he returned to his native Chile, with the hope of finding a club to join.[6] However, he returned to Italy in August of the following year, having failed to join a club in Chile, and joined Serie D side Verbania.[14] Four months later, in December 2016, he moved to fellow Serie D side Virtus Bolzano.

Return to Chile

In July 2017, after fifteen league appearances and one goal with Virtus Bolzano, Bustamante returned to Chile, signing with Primera B de Chile side Santiago Morning.[15] He scored his first goal for the club on 7 August of the same year, the only goal in a 1–0 win against Unión La Calera.[16] The following season he moved to fellow Primera B side Barnechea.[17] At the conclusion of the 2018 season, Bustamante decided to retire from football and spend time playing football for his neighbourhood's teams.[18]

He briefly came out of retirement in 2024, joining amateur side Glorias Navales, and featured in their 2–0 loss to former club Universidad Católica in the Copa Chile.[19]

Style of play

During his playing career, Bustamante was nicknamed the "Chilean Messi" after Argentine footballing legend Lionel Messi, due to the two sharing a similar stature.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Lecce	2012–13	Lega Pro Prima Divisione	4	0	0	0	2[a]	1	6	1
Matera	2014–15	Lega Pro	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Verbania	2016–17	Serie D	11	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
Virtus Bolzano			15	1	0	0	0	0	15	1
Santiago Morning	2017	Primera B de Chile	10	2	2[b]	0	0	0	12	2
Barnechea	2018		5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Career total			47	3	2	0	2	1	51	4

Notes

1. Appearances in the Coppa Italia Lega Pro
2. Appearances in the Copa Chile

References

1. Nelson Bustamante at WorldFootball.net
2. Nelson Bustamante at Soccerway
3. Nelson Bustamante at TuttoCalciatori.net (in Italian)
4. de Bartolo, Augusto (26 April 2010). "Non solo il Barça, anche il Brescia ha il suo Messi" [Not only Barça, Brescia also has its Messi]. sport.sky.it (in Italian). Retrieved 9 August 2023.
5. Araujo, Adela (13 November 2012). "Nelson Bustamante: De Messi chileno a "Busdiamante"" [Nelson Bustamante: From Chilean Messi to "Busdiamante"]. publimetro.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 August 2023.
6. Salas, Cristian (16 December 2015). "'Messi chileno' volvió al país: "Mi objetivo es llegar a la Roja"" ['Chilean Messi' returned to the country: "My goal is to reach the Red"]. chile.as.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 August 2023.
7. "Sulle orme di Messi, Bustamante il suo erede" [In the footsteps of Messi, Bustamante is his heir]. sport.sky.it (in Italian). 26 April 2010. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
8. "Us Lecce, Tesoro conferma: "Tutto pronto. Domani la firma"" [Us Lecce, Treasury confirms: "Everything is ready. Signing tomorrow"]. leccesette.it (in Italian). 16 October 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
9. Schira, Nicolò (17 October 2012). "Lecce, Antonio Tesoro a TLP: "Vi svelo i progetti e la struttura della nuova società. Falco e Di Mariano? Ecco il loro futuro"" [Lecce, Antonio Tesoro at TLP: "I'll reveal the projects and the structure of the new company. Falco and Di Mariano? Here is their future"]. tuttoc.com (in Italian). Retrieved 9 August 2023.
10. "Il Lecce sa solo vincere, Malcore stende la Nocerina" [Lecce only knows how to win, Malcore extends Nocerina]. trnews.it (in Italian). 19 October 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
11. Bravo, Camilo (13 November 2012). "Chileno de 19 años anota su primer gol en Italia" [19-year-old Chilean scores his first goal in Italy]. 24horas.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 August 2023.
12. "Lecce – Road To Entella: Si riparte con una doppia seduta, in quattro lavorano a parte" [Lecce – Road To Entella: It starts again with a double session, four of them work separately]. salentosport.net (in Italian). 28 May 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
13. Sergio, Pierpaolo (14 September 2014). "Nostalgia Bustamante". leccezionale.it (in Italian). Retrieved 9 August 2023.
14. "Nelson Bustamante volverá a jugar en el fútbol italiano" [Nelson Bustamante will return to play in Italian football]. chile.as.com (in Spanish). 1 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
15. Maureira, Nicolás (4 July 2017). "Nelson Bustamante, chileno descubierto en programa de TV, fichó en Santiago Morning" [Nelson Bustamante, a Chilean discovered on a TV program, signed up for Santiago Morning]. biobiochile.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 August 2023.
16. "Nelson Bustamante permitió la victoria de Santiago Morning ante U. La Calera" [Nelson Bustamante allowed the victory of Santiago Morning against U. La Calera]. opinio.cooperativa.cl (in Spanish). 6 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
17. "El "Messi" chileno cambia de equipo en la Primera B" [The Chilean "Messi" changes teams in Primera B]. primerabchile.cl (in Spanish). 2 February 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
18. Salas, Cristian (29 November 2023). ""¿En qué equipo pienso volver a jugar? En el que me den minutos, aunque me paguen el mínimo"". AS Chile (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 November 2023.
19. Bustos, Daniel (20 June 2024). "Perdona una goleada: la UC derrota a Glorias Navales y avanza en la Copa Chile" [Forgive a thrashing: UC defeats Glorias Navales and advances in the Chile Cup]. latercera.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 October 2024.

External links

• Nelson Bustamante at Soccerway