Soccer is a whole different game for Maury senior Tony Tchani.
These days, the light-on-his feet, 6-foot-3 midfielder dances around the pitch with a ball at his feet at Powhatan Field. He has fans, too.
“He has a group of kids — about 25 girls — that come to watch him every game,” Commodores coach Mohsin Bouziane said. “We have people from other school systems, people from the community … ex-players that hear about him and come watch him play. He’s the kid that belonged to everybody.”
More than geographically, the game is miles from Tchani’s home in the village of Bafang, Cameroon, where soccer wasn’t played on grass and there wasn’t structure to the game.
“I was playing on the streets,” the soft-spoken Tchani said. “We played four-on-four or three-on-three with no referees — just for fun.”
He picked up soccer at 5 years old, but adapting to the street game took grit.
“He learned how to play soccer with older guys,” Bouziane said. “He learned how to defend himself. He learned how to be tough. He learned how to survive in an environment like that.”
Although there were others playing alongside him, Tchani focused on his individual skills.
“On the streets, you don’t care about your team,” Tchani said.
When the streets were empty, he honed his talents by juggling the ball and practicing his shooting.
Tchani came to the United States on a permanent visa in December 2006 to join his mother, Marceline, in Maryland.
But something was missing.
“There was no soccer,” Tchani said. “And I told my mom, 'I can’t live there because I love soccer and I want to play soccer.’”
Tchani’s uncle knew Bouziane. A month later, Tchani was living in Norfolk and taking classes at Maury while working with the boys team during preseason warm-ups.
It didn’t take long for Bouziane, who has become Tchani’s legal guardian, to know he had discovered a special talent.
“You can’t compare his personality – sometimes the way he looks is like shy, Bouziane said. “But when he plays and has the ball at his feet, he’s a monster.
“He makes things happen.”