T

ony Romano thought no other coach was even listening to his nomination speech as to why Tajon Buchanan should be Colorado State Player of the Year in 2016. They all already had Buchanan’s name down.

“I remember thinking to myself, ‘this is a young man who will make a living playing soccer someday. Period.’ He’s that level, that caliber player and that has certainly proven to become true,” Romano said.

Buchanan plays for Belgian professional football team Club Brugge after competing at Syracuse from 2017-2018 and getting drafted ninth overall by the New England Revolution in the MLS SuperDraft. Next week, Buchanan and Kamal Miller will be the Orange’s first-ever players in program history to be at a FIFA World Cup as they were named to Canada’s 26-man roster for Qatar. 

Miles Robinson, a defender for the United States men’s national team, likely also would’ve been selected for the World Cup if it wasn’t for an Achilles injury. 

“If it wasn’t for Miles (Robinson’s) injury, the prospect of having Miles, Kamal Miller and Tajon Buchanan in a World Cup is still a little bit surreal,” Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre said. 

In January 2021, Canada manager John Herdman invited Buchanan to his first senior camp. Buchanan watched the mentality Herdman brought to the team, and said Herdman “brought a country together” because of the team’s success in qualifying.

Buchanan made his Canada senior national team debut in a 7-0 World Cup qualification match win over Aruba in June 2021. He scored his first goal in a 2-1 loss to Mexico at the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where he was named the tournament’s best young player. In 25 international appearances, he’s notched five goals and six assists.

Canada reached first place in CONCACAF qualifying for the World Cup, securing an automatic bid to Qatar. Buchanan scored in wins over El Salvador, Panama and Jamaica. 

The tournament will be the country’s first appearance since 1986. The call from Herdman that he was named to the 26-man roster was a “dream come true,” Buchanan said. 

“For myself coming into the team last year, I think the goal was always to play in Qatar at this World Cup,” Buchanan said. “When I came into (the national team picture), you definitely felt that. That was an environment I wanted to be in. A winning culture.”

Buchanan’s only been with the senior national team for just under two years. He had made four U23 youth national team appearances but was never part of previous youth national teams, missing out on senior team camps. 

“I was overlooked,” Buchanan said. “I never got called or anything like that.”

Similar to the national team, Buchanan didn’t get much attention when he was recruited by SU. In 2016, Buchanan told the Daily Orange that his journey to Syracuse was “unusual.” 

Buchanan played under Chris Chrysanthou for the Mississauga Falcons, a Canadian club team that won the 2014 U16 IMG Cup. But in 2015, Chrysanthou’s job forced him to move to Colorado. Buchanan wasn’t getting a lot of exposure and coaches told him and his teammates to “stop thinking about” programs such as Syracuse.

Buchanan moved to Colorado alone to get more looks. He was accepted to Real Colorado, a United States Developmental Academy team. But because his biological parents weren’t living with him, FIFA and the U.S Soccer Federation declared Buchanan ineligible to play. He couldn’t play in games for Real Colorado, nor could he play for Legacy for his junior year in 2015. 

Since he could only train, Buchanan attended Syracuse’s Winter ID camp in 2016. Three weeks after that, Syracuse McIntyre invited him for an official visit and Buchanan committed to his “dream school.”

“Going (to Syracuse), I was really able to express myself as a player and show my qualities,” Buchanan said.

Before each season, Syracuse’s team captains held a practice in Manley Field House. Former Syracuse forward Adnan Bakalovic said Buchanan’s confidence stuck out right away as he took on more experienced players along the left side. 

Buchanan, at the striker position, always attacked Miller, “one of the best” defenders in the country, Bakalovic said. Both players would go back-and-forth, with Buchanan using speed and Miller using his strength. Bakalovic said players were often “shy” going against Miller, but Buchanan wasn’t. 

McIntyre told the forwards to attack opposing defenders one-on-one, Bakalovic said. In Syracuse’s 7-0 win over St. Bonaventure in 2018, Buchanan nutmegged the goalkeeper to score his first goal. For his second, he faked a shot, generating enough space to shoot the ball into the left corner. Playing through an injury, his hat trick was a large part of the program’s record for most goals scored by SU on its home field. 

“Ian (McIntyre) was a great coach for me and made me believe in my qualities and helped me as a player a lot on the field and off the field,” Buchanan said.

When he was eligible to play at Legacy, teams strategized to foul him the whole game. They didn’t have another strategy to combat his talent. Romano said at the high school level or professional level, opposing defenders can’t keep up with him based on his “pure agility, speed and quickness.”

Bakalovic said one of Buchanan’s best qualities was his dribbling. He was never a “flashy” player who would do something for a highlight reel. All his step overs and scissors were purposeful and effective, Bakalovic said.

“I used to think I was a very good dribbler back in the day, but Tajon always just one-upped me,” Bakalovic said. “Anything that I would do, he would just do it much better.”

Buchanan finished with 12 goals on 80 shots in addition to six assists in two seasons at SU. After earning a Generation Adidas contract, Buchanan then played for the New England Revolution in the MLS.

He recorded 60 appearances with 10 goals, earning an MLS All-Star team selection in 2021. New England later transferred him to Belgium First Division A’s Club Brugge, where he made his debut in 2022. 

“He always knew he was gonna go far,” Bakalovic said. “This is what he wanted. This is what he wants to do.” 

Canada’s pace and skill on the attack is an area where it has a lot of success, Buchanan said, but he knows the team is playing much stronger competition with Belgium, Croatia and Morocco in its group. Croatia finished second and Belgium finished third at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. 

Buchanan had an opportunity to go against higher competition with Club Brugge, who recently qualified to the Round of 16 for the Champions League. He made four appearances and notched one assist in the tournament. 

“A World Cup and a Champions League (appearance) — it doesn’t get any bigger than that,” McIntyre said.

Photo courtesy of Canada Soccer

Published on November 17, 2022 at 12:09 am

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini