Haiti soccer team makes emotional return to World Cup after 54 years
· Yahoo Sports
I was 12 years from being born when the Haitian Men’s National Soccer Team last made an appearance in the FIFA World Cup.
After 54 years, many proud Haitians like myself get to take in a once-in-a-lifetime experience as Les Grenadiers are back to compete in the world’s greatest sporting event.
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Haiti is set to open Group C Stage play against Scotland at 9 p.m. Saturday from Boston Stadium. While I look forward to the players standing on the field and the Haitian National Anthem blaring through the speakers, the anticipation has made me flash back to one of the best sporting events I ever attended.
On March 5, 2006, the Puerto Rican national baseball team visited Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie to take on the New York Mets in an exhibition game during spring training. There weren’t any stakes and frankly, considering that it was half of my lifetime ago, I don’t remember a single play.
But what I do remember from my seat several rows behind the visiting dugout is the electricity created in the packed stands by the Puerto Rican fans who roared with every run their team scored as if it was a World Series game. More importantly, they created a festive atmosphere unlike any other I had felt to that point, chanting, singing and providing nonstop energy.
The loudest cheers belonged to Bernie Williams. It sounded like the Bronx in October every time the New York Yankees legend stepped to the plate.
I came to the conclusion at that day’s end: international events are unmatched.
And since then, being in attendance for multiple World Baseball Classic games have only confirmed that feeling. But on all of those occasions, I never truly had a country to root for. I took in the passion of others.
Fast forward 20 years later, while I won’t be able to attend any of the World Cup matches, the vibes won’t be borrowed. I’ll get to wrap myself in the flag from the comfort of a recliner. The only thing better is that I get to experience these games with my family, and in particular my parents, who have vivid memories of 1974.
My mother remembers listening to the World Cup on the radio as a woman in mid-20s living inside the Central Plateau in Hinche. Meanwhile, my 82-year old father, who attended World Cup matches the last time the event was held in the United States, can easily rattle off names from the ‘74 squad, like Philippe Vorbe, Pierre Bayonne and Emmanuel Sanon, who scored during the country’s first match against Italy.
Watching sporting events with them isn’t new. In fact, it’s central to me liking sports in the first place. For my father and I, nights together watching basketball games or boxing matches helped foster our bond, but this is a new experience that will be unlike any other.
Haitian athletes who have made the NBA (Lu Dort, Bennedict Mathurin) or NFL (Jason Pierre Paul, Pierre Garçon) have represented their heritage. That’s always cool to see. Still, it just means more to see Haiti draped on the front of a kit.
I’ll have the same kit on, as will my father, who was overjoyed when I surprised him with one.
Haiti is not expected to advance past the Group C, let alone win a match against Scotland, Morocco or Brazil, who Haitians have thrown their support behind for decades. That’s not the point.
For a country that’s been engulfed in crisis after crisis and for its people who have been painted in an unfairly negative light, this moment represents a real point of pride, seeing its biggest stars illuminate on the biggest stage possible.
That pride was on display when the team performed in front of sold-out stadiums during exhibition matches in South Florida earlier this month. That pride was on display when a mass of fans stood on the streets to welcome the team’s arrival to their team hotel on Thursday in Quincy, Massachusetts.
And for those unable to attend a match, that pride will be on display across watch parties, where Sweet Micky or Joé Dwèt Filé will be blasting through the speakers, and griot, pate còde and pikliz will be on the menu. It certainly will be at my house.
Se pou fèt la kòmanse.
Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for Treasure Coast Newspapers. He can be reached at 772-985-9692, on X at @PatBernadeau or via email at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Haiti soccer team makes historic World Cup return