Brampton’s Kadeisha Buchanan named Canada’s best soccer player

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Published December 5, 2020 at 1:38 pm

Brampton’s Kadeisha Buchanan has been named Canada’s top women’s soccer player for 2020.

This is the third time the 25-year-old graduate of Cardinal Leger Secondary School has received the honour, which is presented by Allstate through Canada Soccer, the sport’s governing body in Canada. She was selected by a vote from coaches and media across the country.

Buchanan was chosen for her role in helping Canada’s national team qualify for the Olympics as well as her standout performance with French team Olympique Lyonnais, a three trophy winner the past year including UEFA Women’s Champions League.

“A great year, (despite) all that’s going on in the world,” Buchanan told The Canadian Press. “I’m proud to get such results after being off for a few months [due to the pandemic]. To really put that effort in after and to go after the [Champions League] trophy was very rewarding.”

With Canada in 2020, Buchanan featured in six international “A” matches from January through March before the global pause in football because of the Covid-19 pandemic. She earned Canada’s Player of the Match honours against USA in the Final of the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship, which was also her milestone 100th international “A” match. She also had an assist in the match against Mexico and she was named the Canada Soccer Player of the Month for February.

Buchanan won her second Canada Soccer Player of the Month honour in August after she helped Olympique Lyonnais win the 2019-20 UEFA Women’s Champions League title on August 30 in Spain. From January through November, she featured in 17 club matches and scored three goals and was a major part of the team’s 20-match unbeaten streak across all League, Cup and UEFA competitions from January through November.

Before this year, Buchanan previously won the Canadian Players of the Year Award in 2015 and 2017. In her brief career, she has won one Olympic Games bronze medal (Rio 2016), three CONCACAF medals (2016, 2018, 2020), and represented Canada 101 times at the international “A” level.

Buchanan was just 14 when she made her debut in the Canadian youth program in 2010. She was 17 when she made her international “A” debut for Canada and she scored her first goal in May 2014.

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