MIAMI (AP) – On a rainy Saturday, members of Miami’s Haitian community packed the stage to cheer on forward Duckens Nazon, defender Martin Experience and other members of the national soccer team ahead of two friendlies next week.
For a few hours, nothing else mattered to the soccer-loving people of the troubled Caribbean nation. world cup It’s been 52 years.
“No matter what happens, we are going to show that we are united,” Nazon said in Creole, standing in front of a large Haitian flag commemorating Haitian Heritage Month, which is celebrated every May in the United States.
“I want this World Cup to be the beginning of a new Haiti,” he said.
Since qualifying for the World Cup for the second time in the country’s history, the players have vowed to represent the hope and joy of a country beset by crisis and instability.
That pride was on display Saturday at a museum in North Miami, home to the largest Haitian population in the United States.
Fans wore Haitian flags and danced to upbeat music compass music Meanwhile, the children were kicking soccer balls around in a small social gathering.
Many were in awe as they watched their country reach football’s highest stage once again.
Odeline Paul, 49, who has lived in Miami since she was 13, said, “At my age, I’ve heard and read about Haiti participating in the World Cup in the 1970s, but I’ve never had the opportunity to watch Haiti play.” “It’s a great thing to be here and at least meet them and have my son be present in this moment.”
Paul said he would not be able to attend the Haiti game. Tickets are too expensive for her to go in person — The dilemma faced by many soccer fans But she plans to attend one of the watch parties in Miami.
She took her son to Saturday’s event so he could learn about Haiti and its tense history.
“It’s about teaching them about the culture and what it took to get to the World Cup. Now, to achieve that, it’s a feeling that no words can describe,” Paul said.
“We are a resilient people. It doesn’t matter how many times we fall,” she added. “We wake up all the time. And that’s my country.”
The euphoria of the historic moment – Haiti’s only World Cup appearance was in West Germany in 1974 – is set against a backdrop of violence. hunger and homeless What the country is working on.
Armed organizations control up to 90% of capitalHaiti is forced to play its “home” World Cup qualifiers on a small Caribbean island in the Netherlands, as the team’s home stadium is in Port-au-Prince. Curacao. and the team’s US visa. The only player based in Haiti The measure has yet to materialize as President Donald Trump’s administration continues to expand travel restrictions from countries including Haiti.
For Nguyencin Ambo, who has lived in Miami for 35 years, the team’s qualification was the bright spot it needed, no matter how far it got.
“This is one of the things that helps us come together as a people,” she said. “We’re in great shape. Win or lose, we’re going to maintain this high because it took us 52 years to get here.”
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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
