18987: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-Soccer-Unrest hits home for Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Sun, Feb. 22, 2004


SOCCER | HAITI 2, TURKS AND CAICOS 0


Unrest hits home for Haiti

BY SANTOS A. PEREZ

sperez@herald.com


Peter Germain wrestled with conflicting emotions. The importance of a World
Cup qualifier suddenly seemed secondary in the Haitian national team
defender's thoughts.

Early Saturday, Germain's house in the Haitian city St. Marc was burned as
the country's political unrest intensified.

Now a victim of the uprising against Haitian President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, Germain, 22, still managed to play a role in Haiti's 2-0 victory
against Turks and Caicos Islands on Saturday night in front of 3,100 fans at
Ted Hendricks Stadium in Hialeah.

Haiti won the second set of the CONCACAF 2006 World Cup qualifier and
advances to the next round against Jamaica in June.

''Despite the tragedy, I was motivated to play tonight,'' Germain said.
``When I first heard the news, I cried, but I knew I had an important game
that I needed to concentrate for.''

Germain said no family members were hurt in the fire.

''I'm happy that we got these two important victories, and now we must
improve our focus against Jamaica,'' Germain said.

Haiti and Turks and Caicos Islands fulfilled goals in their two-game
qualifying set: Haiti advanced, and Turks and Caicos improved -- the team
didn't lose by a combined two-game score of 14-0, like it did against St.
Kitts in 2002 World Cup qualifying.

''This was a massive result for us,'' said Paul Crosbie, a Turks and Caicos
defender and the team's coach. ``It will give us a huge boost in our
country.''

Similar to its 5-0 win Wednesday at the Orange Bowl, Haiti controlled the
action, with the occasional solid save by Turks and Caicos goalkeeper Gerard
Gregg

Haiti took a 1-0 lead on Roody Lormera's penalty kick in the ninth minute.

Gregg made diving saves off booming shots from Romulus Turlien and Lormera
in the 37th and 41st minutes, but he could not stop Crosbie's ill-fated
clear, which resulted in an own goal at the 42nd minute. Crosbie dived to
clear Turlien's pass from the left wing but kicked the ball into the Turks
and Caicos net.

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