PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — For decades, Haitian soccer fans have gathered in front of televisions and radios to cheer on Brazil in every country. world cup. But this year is different.
Excitement is high as Haiti has qualified for the world championships for the first time since 1974. Soccer matches break out in dusty areas, while shirts emblazoned with the country’s players are increasingly being sold on street corners.
haiti The national team, known as the ‘Grenadiers’, will begin the tournament in Group C alongside Morocco, Scotland and… Brazil. On June 19th, he will face his longtime soccer idol at Philadelphia Stadium.
“My favorite team is Brazil, but my country is in the World Cup and Brazil is on the sidelines,” 16-year-old Guerrier Lima said with a laugh. He recently played soccer on a pothole-filled road in the capital Port-au-Prince, wearing sneakers on one foot and a plastic slide on the other, eager to aim between rocks that serve as goalposts.
He wore a Brazilian shirt with the number 10 embroidered on it, a replica of kits worn by soccer greats such as Pele, Neymar and Ronaldinho.
“I want to be Daken’s Nazon“My family can’t afford to send me to a club because of training costs, but I’m trying to get into a club somehow,” Lima said, referring to Haiti’s top scorer.
Rima said she loves Kaka, retired brazilian soccer playerHowever, his favorite player is Nazon, a forward from Iran’s Esteghlal Football Club.
“Brazil is a good country, but I will support my Haitian brothers,” Lima said.
“Grenadiers” give hope to a country in turmoil
widespread hungerterrible violence and concern Rise in gang violence The issue is being put aside, if only briefly, as Haiti cheers on its own team.
Prophet Ismous, a 52-year-old broker, scanned replica soccer shirts being sold on a dusty street corner in Port-au-Prince. Unable to afford the $13 shirt, he bought a plastic bracelet in the red and blue colors of the Haitian flag for $1.
“I’m showing my support for Haiti in the best way I can,” he said. “I hope Haiti wins against Brazil.”
Ismeus said he would return to his stall once he had more money to buy a small flag, “so I can wave it in the air when Haiti scores against Brazil.”
Fiso Joseph, a street vendor who sells replica soccer shirts, said he stopped rooting for Brazil as soon as Haiti qualified.
“Even if you have 10 people in your family, everyone should wear a jersey,” he says.
Wilkerson-Daroman, 33, agreed.
“Putting on the jersey is a message of hope that we send to each and every Grenadier fighting for us and for Haiti. It’s a message that there is still life here and we must keep moving forward,” he said. “We are living in very difficult circumstances, but the grenadiers gave us hope, and we must give them hope too.”
The cries of Haitian soccer fans are “Grenadiers, ah!” — derived from the meaning “Army, attack!” era of revolution When Haiti became the world’s first black republic.
Mario Etienne, 15, said it was his first time watching his country at a World Cup since Haiti last qualified in 1974.
“This is a national gathering,” he said. “If I didn’t have electricity, I’d be watching it somewhere on the street or at a friend’s house.”
Claudie Dennis, 14, expects the same. “I can’t go to the stadium where they’re playing, but I’ll watch them on TV,” he said with a big smile. “I’m not going to miss any of the three games they play.”
Undying love for Brazil
Haitians have long respected the Brazilian team, and many began their love affair with the Brazilian team at the 1982 World Cup, when captain Socrates led a team that included: ZicoFalcao and Tonino Cerezo.
Their support for the team only grew in 2004, when Brazil led a UN peacekeeping force in Haiti. The games were organized to promote peace in the Caribbean country, which was still reeling from a violent uprising that ousted former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
thousands of haitians I ran alongside an armored convoy. Featuring Brazilian greats ronaldo and Roberto Carlos To the stadium in Port-au-Prince.
“It was impressive to see people all the way from the airport to here, and everyone was shouting, ‘Brazil! Brazil!'” Roberto Carlos told The Associated Press that day.
Haiti lost 6-0, but it didn’t matter. Haitian fans celebrated the match by waving Brazilian flags.
This was just one of the few matches between Haiti and Brazil in the 2016 Copa America, where the South American country defeated the Caribbean team 7-1.
Evenson Luxama, a 34-year-old street vendor, said he expected Haiti to attack Brazil “like a tiger.”
“Of course I will watch the game,” he said, adding that he would continue to close his eyes when Brazil attacks Haiti.
However, the World Cup Haiti’s upcoming matches That doesn’t mean much to Jean-Paul Jean-Pierre, a 29-year-old street vendor who recently started selling team shirts and flags. “I’m here to make a living, not because I love any team,” he said.
Pierre is one of more than 1.4 million Haitians. Displaced due to gang violence She lives with her partner and two children in a cramped makeshift shelter and struggles to feed them.
“Making money, that’s what I’m interested in,” he said. “I wish there was a World Cup every year for me to survive.”
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Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Associated Press videographer Pierre Richard Luxama in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, contributed to this report.
