I was listening to a popular sport radio station this week when one football expert said Haiti had never played in the World Cup finals.
In fact, they appeared once in 1974 when the country was under dictatorial president « Baby Doc » Jean-Claude Duvalier who succeeded his late father « Papa Doc » Francois.
According to reports, the final qualifying round for the 1974 World Cup was held in Haiti because of the influence of its military regime which wanted to make sure that the country qualified for the finals.
Haiti met Trinidad in the decisive qualifier played before Duvalier and his men (or « thugs » in some reports). It was reported that Trinidad had four goals disallowed in their 2-1 defeat.
In West Germany, Haiti were in a tough group with Italy, Argentina and Poland. Although they lost all their three matches, they scored two goals, one each against Italy and Argentina.
Poland, who knocked out England in the qualifying round, were among the favourites to lift the trophy. While Italy and Argentina were not considered top contenders, they were expected to secure easy wins over the Haitians.
Haiti were a factor to determine which of the other two teams would qualify for the next round.
Before the tournament, Haiti reportedly used voodoo to weaken their opponents. The black magic seemingly worked in the early stages of their World Cup debut game against Italy.
Haiti held Italy to a scoreless draw in the first half. They stunned Italy, and the watching world, when they took the lead shortly after the interval through Emmanuel Sanon.
Many might think about another major World Cup upset when Italy were on the receiving end. The Italians were eliminated in the 1966 finals after losing 1-0 to North Korea.
In West Germany, Italy were successful in avoiding a recurrence of a shock loss to an unfancied side when they hit back with three goals to beat Haiti 3-1.
Sanon’s goal is in the history books as it stopped Dino Zoff’s clean sheet record in international matches at 1,142 minutes.
The strike also helped eliminate Italy who finished third behind Argentina who had better goal difference thanks to their 4-1 win over Haiti. Sanon was also the scorer in the Argentina match.
England coach Fabio Capello was in Italy’s starting line-up against Haiti so he should remember a thing or two about the match.
Haiti have since never been a football « powerhouse » in the Caribbean. They failed to reach CONCACAF final qualifying round for the 2010 World Cup.
Currently, there is only one Haitian footballer in England – Jean-Jean-Francois Lecsinel, a defender with Swindon Town in League One.
In the English Premier League, American Josmer Volmy Altidore of Haitian descent is playing for Hull City on loan from Spanish club Villarreal.
The most notorious Haitian athlete among English football fans was probably soccer player Joe Gaetjens who represented the US in the 1950 World Cup.
Gaetjens scored in the US’ 1-0 win over favourites England, whose players included Alf Ramsey, Tom Finney and Stan Mortensen, in one of the biggest World Cup shocks.
Gaetjens, who died in 1964, was never a US citizen. He was born in Haiti and went to study at Columbia University on a scholarship from the Haitian government in the 1940s.
But because he had declared his intention of becoming an American citizen, he was allowed to play in the World Cup.
That was the only goal Gaetjens scored at the international level. He played three times for the US, all in that World Cup, and once for Haiti.
There are several American athletes of Haitian descent in US sports including Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Pierre Garcon and New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma.Both have helped raise funds for earthquake-ravaged Haiti and will meet in the Super Bowl next week.
Writer: Wanchai Rujawongsanti
Position: Sports Editor
Bankgokpost.com