Tony Tchani (; born April 13, 1989) is a Cameroonian footballer who currently plays for Vancouver Whitecaps FC in Major League Soccer.
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Career
Amateur and college
Tchani moved to the United States from his native Cameroon in 2004, settling in Norfolk, Virginia. He attended Maury High School, and played club soccer for Beach FC before playing college soccer at the University of Virginia. He started 12 matches and scored 9 goals as a freshman, was the 2008 ACC Freshman of the Year, a second team all-ACC selection, was named to the first team All-South Atlantic Region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), and was a Soccer America first team All-Freshmen. During the 2009 season, Tchani was named First-Team All America by College Soccer News, a member of the NCAA College Cup All-Tournament team, First Team All-America by NSCAA, and a second team All-ACC member. In 2009, the UVa Men's Soccer team won the National Championship (a 3-2 penalty kick shootout against Akron), with Tchani scoring one of Virginia's penalty kicks.
During his college years he also played with the Hampton Roads Piranhas in the USL Premier Development League.
Professional
Tchani was drafted in the first round (2nd overall) of the 2010 MLS SuperDraft by New York Red Bulls. He made his professional debut on March 27, 2010, in New York's opening game of the 2010 MLS season against Chicago Fire. On April 27, 2010 Tchani made his first start for New York helping the club to a 2-1 victory over Philadelphia Union in a 2010 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup qualification match. On May 20, 2010 Tchani headed in his first career goal in a 3-1 loss to Columbus Crew. During Tchani's initial campaign with New York he was gradually brought into the first unit by coach Hans Backe and eventually began to form a solid partnership in the heart of the Red Bulls' midfield with newly signed Rafael Marquez. Tchani ended his first professional season appearing in 27 regular season matches for New York scoring 1 goal and providing 3 assists in helping his side capture the regular season Eastern Conference title.
Tchani was traded to Toronto FC on April 1, 2011 along with teammate Danleigh Borman and a 2012 SuperDraft 1st round pick for Dwayne De Rosario. The following day Tchani made his debut for Toronto in a 1-1 home draw against Chivas USA. Tchani scored his first goal for Toronto in a 1-1 home draw versus Columbus Crew on April 23, 2011, following his goal celebration he was shown his second yellow of the game leading to an ejection. Tchani was forced to change his number in late June from 22 to 32 with Toronto's new designated player signing of Torsten Frings.
On July 15, 2011, Tchani was traded to Columbus Crew in exchange for Andy Iro and Léandre Griffit. Due to a left knee injury, Tchani was sidelined upon his arrival at the club, and underwent surgery in late August. Finally, on October 27, 2011, he made his debut for the Black & Gold, playing 90 minutes in the midfield in a 1-0 away defeat at the hands of the Colorado Rapids in the Wild Card round of the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs.
On December 7, 2012 Tchani signed a new deal with Columbus. In 2013, Tchani remained a part-time player starting 13 matches for Columbus. However, in 2014 he became a mainstay and started 33 of 34 league matches. In 2016, he missed time because of national team commitments, but still made 21 appearances, scoring against Orlando City SC in a 2-2 draw.
In a deal announced March 30, 2017, Tchani was traded to Vancouver Whitecaps FC for Kekuta Manneh, $300,000 in various allocation funds and a possible future draft pick.
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International career
On November 4, 2015, Tchani received his first call up from Cameroon for their upcoming World Cup Qualifying matches against Niger. However, after aggravating an injury during a match with Columbus, he withdrew from the squad.
In January 2016, Tchani was called up by the United States for their friendlies against Iceland and Canada He made his U.S. debut on January 31 against Iceland, coming on as a substitute in the 70th minute. However, this friendly appearance did not cap tie Tchani.
In March 2016 he accepted a call up from Cameroon for their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against South Africa. After appearing against South Africa, he was cap-tied to Cameroon.
Personal
Tchani received U.S. citizenship in 2013.
Career statistics
Last update: October 23, 2016
1Lamar Hunt US Open Cup/Canadian Championship
Honors
University of Virginia
- NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship: 2009
Toronto FC
- Canadian Championship: 2011
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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