| Nelson Bustamante | |
| Full Name: | Nelson Maximiliano Bustamante Lorca |
| Birth Date: | 23 December 1992 |
| Birth Place: | San Bernardo, Santiago, Chile |
| Height: | 1.60 m |
| Position: | Shadow-striker, attacking midfielder |
| Youthyears1: | 2007 |
| Youthclubs1: | Universidad Católica |
| Youthyears2: | 2007–2011 |
| Youthclubs2: | Brescia |
| Youthyears3: | 2011–2012 |
| Youthclubs3: | Bologna |
| Years1: | 2012–2013 |
| Clubs1: | Lecce |
| Caps1: | 4 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2014–2015 |
| Caps2: | 2 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Years3: | 2016 |
| Caps3: | 11 |
| Goals3: | 0 |
| Years4: | 2016–2017 |
| Caps4: | 15 |
| Goals4: | 1 |
| Years5: | 2017 |
| Clubs5: | Santiago Morning |
| Caps5: | 10 |
| Goals5: | 2 |
| Years6: | 2018 |
| Caps6: | 5 |
| Goals6: | 0 |
| Totalcaps: | 47 |
| Totalgoals: | 3 |
Nelson Maximiliano Bustamante Lorca (born 23 December 1992) is a Chilean former footballer who played as a forward.
Bustamante was born in San Bernardo, Chile, and developed a passion for football from his father, who played for a local team.[1] 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.[1] In 2007, while performing on a street corner, he was spotted by Chilean investigative news show, 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.[1] [2] [3]
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,[4] the same condition that afflicted his idol, Lionel Messi, he opted to move to Italy, joining the academy of Brescia.[1] 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.[2] [3]
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.[5] [6] He made his professional debut shortly after joining, playing in Lecce's 1–0 Coppa Italia Lega Pro win over Nocerina on 18 October.[7] The following month, he scored his first goal for the club in Lecce's 5–1 Coppa Italia Lega Pro win against Aprilia.[2] [8]
By May 2013, Bustamante found himself training separately from the Lecce first team.[9] He was released by the club, and went on to join fellow Lega Pro side Matera the following summer.[10] In December 2015, having been released by Matera, he returned to his native Chile, with the hope of finding a club to join.[3] 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.[11] Four months later, in December 2016, he moved to fellow Serie D side Virtus Bolzano.
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.[12] 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.[13] The following season he moved to fellow Primera B side Barnechea.[14] At the conclusion of the 2018 season, Bustamante decided to retire from football and spend time playing football for his neighbourhood's teams.[15]
During his playing career, Bustamante was nicknamed the "Chilean Messi" after Argentine footballing legend Lionel Messi, due to the two sharing a similar stature.
| 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 | 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 | 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 | |||