Photo: © Alain-Christian

Anyone in Haiti during a World Cup or its qualifying games will testify to the fact that football (soccer) is the most popular game in Haiti. Throughout the camps of displaced people in the wake of the January 2010 earthquake, children and adults will play football in any size space with anything available while television coverage of the games, particularly those of Latin American teams, transfixed audiences.

The pinnacle of Haiti’s soccer success is considered 1974 when the country became the first Caribbean country to qualify for the World Cup finals and briefly held a 1-0 lead over one of the tournament favourites, Italy. But in fact Haitian soccer has a less known and greater claim to fame. In 1950, in what is generally considered the greatest upset in World Cup finals history, a Haitian center forward, Joe Gaetjens, scored the winning goal for the USA against England in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Gaetjens, who had been drafted relatively late into a team of American amateurs on a personal recommendation, was not an US citizen -- despite living and working in New York -- and never became one.  His celebrity did not protect him. In July 1964, ten years after his return to Haiti, he became just another Francois Duvalier victim after arrest and brief imprisonment in the notorious torture center, Fort Dimanche.

Today several Haitian footballers have followed in his steps, albeit frequently wearing the shirt of another country. The most prominent is Josmer Volmy “Jozy” Altidore, who like Gaetjens, led the forward line for the USA in the 2010 World Cup, having made his debut for the USA in 2007 at just 18 years of age. Although born in the United States to two Haitian parents, Altidore has been prominent in recognizing his heritage both on and off the pitch and was a prominent in the 2010 Haitian earthquake relief fund-raising efforts.