WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Former William & Mary All-American
Antonio Bustamante received a call-up to the Bolivia U23 National Team and competed for the country in 2020 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament last month in Columbia.
In the first stage, Bolivia went 2-2 in Group B finishing third and did not advance final group based on goal differential. Bustamante appeared in all four games in the group stage for La Verde. After coming off the bench to play the final 30 minutes in a 2-0 loss to Paraguay on Jan. 22, Bustamante started and played all 90 minutes of the final three matches. Bolivia picked up wins over Uruguay, 3-2 on Jan. 25 and Peru, 2-1, on Jan. 31.
It was the 13th edition of the CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament, which was used to determine which men's under-23 national teams from the South American region would qualify for the Olympics.
After a standout career at W&M, Bustamante signed a Major League Soccer (MLS) Homegrown Player with D.C. United, the 10th such player in the organization's history. He spent most of his first professional season with Loudoun United FC, starting 25 matches. Bustamente tallied five goals and tied for the team lead with four assists. He created a team-best 42 chances, the team's most active passer (57 per game) and its most accurate (89.2%). Bustamante did get some first team time, playing for D.C. United in the Open Cup and friendlies.
Bustamante racked up a long list of notable awards during his Green and Gold career. Bustamante became the first player in state history to be twice named the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) State Player of the Year, taking home the honor in 2017 and 2018. He was the fifth player in Tribe history to be named to the All-Colonial Athletic Association First Team on three occasions. Bustamante was a three-time United Soccer Coaches All-Region selection, including first team accolades in 2016 and 2017.
As a junior, he was named the CAA Player of the Year and was a consensus All-American. Bustamante ranked among the top 10 nationally with 35 points and 15 goals in leading the Tribe to the 2017 CAA Championship. He scored a school-record four goals in the quarterfinal win at Hofstra and added a championship game hat trick against UNCW on his way to the CAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player award. This past season, Bustamante topped the Green and Gold with 15 points and four goals and seven assists. His assist total topped the CAA and ranked among the top 30 nationally in assists per game. He finished his career among the program's all-time leaders in points (10th at 85), goals (10th at 34), shots (eight at 201) and game-winning goals (12th at 8) while starting 68 of his 69 career appearances.
