Haiti remembers the World Cup in West Germany: We managed to outwit Zof

Every World Cup has a special charm. In addition to the standard favourites, there are always teams that are complete outsiders, but who, with one move, one goal, remain remembered and talked about.

Such is the case with the Haitian national team and the generation that represented this country at the World Cup in West Germany in 1974.

Haiti finished the qualification for the global soccer tournament in first place ahead of Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago. The key match for qualifying for the World Cup was against Trinidad and Tobago in Port-au-Prince. The home team triumphed 2:1, but the visitors were denied as many as four goals. History is written, Haiti qualified for the World Cup for the first time.

In West Germany they were in a group with Italy, Poland and Argentina. In the match against the Italians, then vice-champions of the world, Haitian football player Emmanuel Sanon will write the most beautiful pages in the football history of this Caribbean country.

Before the match with Haiti, the goalkeeper of the Italian national team, Dino Zoff, was undefeated in 12 games. The "azur" goalkeeper's net has been inactive since the 53rd minute of a friendly match played against Yugoslavia in September 1972.

Zof was expected to keep a clean sheet against a weak opponent. But, at the beginning of the second half, something completely unexpected happened. The Italians lost the ball, followed by a rival counter and a great run by Sanon. The Haiti player easily ran past the keeper, then elegantly rounded Zof to give Haiti the lead. The goalkeeper of Italy was defeated after 1.142 minutes. A moment that the inhabitants of the Caribbean country still remember with pride.

"Everyone was wondering who would checkmate Zof first. Journalists bid on many names, but no one thought that a Haitian player could do it. That made me angry, because I knew I could do it," Sanon said later.

Haiti's goal did not shake the Italians. "Azuri" turned around and won 3:1. After the match, Sanon and his teammate Ernst Jean Joseph had to undergo a routine doping control. Sanon passed, but Jean Joseph tested positive for phenmetrazine. In vain, the defender made an excuse that he did not know that this substance was prohibited - he was expelled from the national team.

The national team feared for the fate of their teammates. At the head of Haiti was the ruthless dictator Baby Doc, Jean-Claude Duvalier. The memory of his father Francois Duvalier, Papa Doc, was still fresh. During the reign of terror of the elder Duvalier, Joseph Edouard Gaetjens, a player from Haiti, who played for the USA selection at the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, was executed. The only "sin" of Gaetjens was that his brothers were opponents of Duvalier and his rule. Because of this, in 1964 he was arrested and then killed. Gaetjens' body was never found.

"Jean-Claude Duvalier made it clear to us that this is his team and that he provided the money for the trip to the championship. He also came to training sessions. He called me often to check on me. Some players felt it was dangerous for him to be around the team. Although he was young, he was like a father," Sanon described the younger Duvalier.

In such an atmosphere, Haiti was convincingly defeated by Poland (7:0). After the match, anxiety was replaced by relief. After arriving in his homeland, Jean Joseph called his teammates and told them that everything was fine.

In the third match in the group, they also lost to Argentina. The gauchos won 4:1, and in that match Emanuel Sanon managed to score a goal.

Although they finished the tournament without a point, this generation of Hati footballers led by Sanon still has a heroic status in the country. After them, no one managed to take the country to the World Cup. The leader of that team, Emanuel Sanon, died in 2008 from pancreatic cancer. 20.000 people gathered at the last farewell at the "Silvio Cator" stadium in Port-au-Prince.

"For us, it is still the best result we have achieved. We played against Italy and more importantly, we managed to outwit Zof," recalled midfielder Filipe Vorba, who assisted Sanon in the historic goal against Italy.