20361 (Hermantin)Palm Beach Post Haitian fans cheer team at Orange Bowl (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Haitian fans cheer team at Orange Bowl

By Charles Elmore, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 14, 2004



MIAMI -- Watching the Haitian soccer team play the United States in the
Orange Bowl Saturday night made Yolanda Joseph feel something she had not
felt in months.

"When you see the team, your heart jumps," Joseph said. "You are happy."

Alexander Boucicot's goal in the 69th minute that put Haiti ahead 1-0
produced a roar out of the stands that surely carried to Port-Au-Prince.
Fans waved white towels. They stood, and would not sit down again.

The heavily favored U.S. team salvaged a 1-1 tie on Dan Califf's header with
less than two minutes to play, but Haiti's team -- and its fans -- had
something to celebrate.

For Joseph, like thousands of Haitians who have started new lives in places
such as Miami, West Palm Beach and Fort Pierce, Saturday's match was more
than a tune-up for World Cup play. She lives in Miami's Little Haiti, where
talk of the soccer game crackled on Haitian radio stations for days.

It felt, she said, almost like hugging relatives she can so rarely see.
Sometimes days at a time go before she knows they have not been harmed in
violent outbursts during the bloody coup that has torn the island nation.

" I have a sister and brother in Haiti, and a niece," Joseph said. "My
mother is there. I want everything to be OK. You don't have enough for you,
and yet you send something to them. I want Haiti better than before."

The game itself felt like a relief. There were no violent protests before
the game, no demonstrations. The only confusion among the 8,714 fans who
gathered in the Orange Bowl was why Haiti's apparent go-ahead goal in the
first half was waved off. Captain Bruny Pierre-Richard scored what appeared
to be a goal to put Haiti ahead 1-0 in the 35th minute, but it was
disallowed because of a foul away from the ball.

Yet the mood did not turn sour. Haiti out-shot the U.S. team 3-1 in the
early going. Haitian fans were delighted to see a team that is showing signs
of making the World Cup for the first time since 1974.

Winning or losing mattered, but it wasn't the only reason Max Renard was
there.

"Man, I'm so proud," said Renard, who lives on 161st Street in Miami. "I
would like to see my team win. But I am so happy to be able to shout for
something good."

That was apparent from the start of the game. A roar swelled from the north
side of the stadium when Haiti's team took the field. Defender Gilles Frantz
embraced midfielder Jemps Dorcelus. Boucicot blew a kiss to the crowd.

Haiti's government may have crumbled, but its soccer team would not as the
first half ticked away. Midfielder Wasdon Coriolan headed away what would
have been a U.S. goal from Cory Gibbs with only seconds remaining in the
half.

"It's my team," shouted Jean Garcon, who lives in Little Haiti. "We have
come to see what our country can do."

Lucho Gonzales wore a white soccer jersey with red trim, emblazoned with the
words, "Haiti, World Cup 2006." It was made of a mesh material that looked
official.

It was not official. Creative merchandising has already produced something
more elaborate than the Haitian team itself can afford. In fact, no money at
all comes from Haiti anymore. The team survives on donations from
corporations and individuals. Defender Johnny Descollines' family home has
burned down, but he plays on.

"It's a gift from a friend of mine who made it," Gonzales explained about
the jersey. "The Haitian national team doesn't have an official uniform
yet."

Gonzales said his background is Hispanic, but he wanted to come out to show
support.

For fans like Marie Verna of Miami, who was born in Haiti, this was much
more than a game. It was reaching back to touch an island torn from her.

"You know the situation in Haiti," Verna said. "For us to have something to
cheer about is a blessing. We have something to hope for."

charles_elmore@pbpost.com

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