A series of natural disasters has caused extreme devastation for many living in Haiti, but the thought of competing in the biggest international tournament in football, will hopefully shine a light of positivity to this Caribbean nation.
Les Grenadières have made history just by stepping on the pitch this summer, as they join seven other debutants at this World Cup. Nicolas Delépine’s squad has matched the men’s achievement of qualifying for the 1974 World Cup, after coming close several times. Haiti defied expectations in the playoffs, by beating Chile 2-1.
Midfielder, Danielle Etienne, spoke out about the hope that this tournament has potted for her nation:
“There’s a lot of unhappiness in the country and football is the joy”.
The frequent natural disasters are not the only thing to be causing harm in Haiti, but the assassination of the President, Jovenel Moïse, added to the country’s insecurity.
Haitian football itself was unable to escape too, as the sexual abuse scandals- particularly surrounded the former President of the football federation, Yves Jean-Bart- tarnished the game. Despite Fifa’s ethics committee handing Jean-Bart a lifetime ban in November 2020, for alleged harassment and sexual abuse against female footballers, it was overturned and Jean-Bart denies and wrongdoing.
Is the World Cup a fresh start for the players and country as a whole?
Although the Fifa ranking is one of the lower ones in the competition at 53, their head coach invites a progressive style into his coaching. The 43-year-old uses formations to suit the opponent, which creates an element of surprise and preparation for each team. This will make playing against England in their first game more of a challenge for Wiegman, as she will have to prepare her squad the best she can, without knowing a set formation they will be playing against.
Delépine is very hopeful for his squad, as he believes qualifying for the tournament was a surprise and great achievement, emotions something that can be replicated during the tournament:
“You might think we’re a bit crazy or out of our minds, but we want to go and spring a surprise, maybe a couple and, why not, make the last 16”.
This dream may be not so far from reality, with 19-year-old Melchie Dumornay- known as Corventina. The fast and technical goalscorer performed extremely well at the Under-20 World Cup in 2018 when she was not even 15 years old. A new contract already agreed with Lyon, just shows the promising future for this player.
Haiti are matched with three tough teams in the group stage (England, China and Denmark), but with their positive mindset heading into this tournament, will they make it out of the groups?
Comments