Frantzdy Pierrot arrives with Haïti for a World Cup match against Brésil on Friday night in Philadelphie, a meeting shaped by a long football link between the two teams. Gérald Jean, who played for Haïti in the 1970s, says that connection still runs through many supporters who grew up admiring Brazilian football.
Jean said: "Le Brésil a toujours été une puissance. Nous regardions les joueurs brésiliens et cela nous inspirait. C’est pourquoi, en Haïti, on trouve un grand nombre de personnes qui sont des fans inconditionnels du Brésil". He also said Brazilian players called him "Jair, c’est comme ça qu’ils m’appelaient (diminutif de Jarzinho, un membre de l’équipe vainqueur de la Coupe du monde 1970)".
Gérald Jean à New York
Jean represented Haïti at the professional and amateur levels from 1974 to 1978, played in several clubs on the island and in the United States, then moved to the United States at the end of the 1970s to become a financial adviser. He has lived in New York for nearly fifty years and said he attended multiple friendlies in Brésil and played against Carlos Alberto and Rivellinho.
He also said: "À l’époque, le contexte n’était pas celui d’aujourd’hui: nous avions la Super League, d’autres championnats, et ainsi de suite. J’ai évolué dans plusieurs clubs, sans être totalement professionnel, car nous n’en avions pas les moyens financiers". Asked about those years, he added: "C’était fantastique".
Pelé en Haïti
The link between Haïti and Brésil also runs through Pelé. He visited Haïti on 17 February 1971, and Santos played an unofficial friendly against the Haiti national team that same day. Some reports said Santos won 2-0.
The day before Pelé’s visit, François Duvalier gave him a "certificat national du mérite". The article presents that 1971 visit as a symbolic point in a relationship built on style, flair and samba, with many inhabitants of Haïti supporting the Seleção.
Philadelphie vendredi soir
Friday night’s match gives that history a new stage. For Haïti, the question is not whether the past exists; it is whether Frantzdy Pierrot and his teammates can turn a longstanding admiration into a performance that stands beside Brésil on the World Cup stage.
What comes next is simple and immediate: Haïti and Brésil meet in Philadelphie on Friday night, and the result will decide whether this remembered bond is only symbolic or also competitive in the present.
