BRADENTON, Florida – With the 2019 Concacaf Under-17 Championship set to begin next month in Bradenton, Florida, one team in particular will be looking to recreate the magic of a side from 12 years ago.
It was in 2007 when Haiti’s Under-17 team, appearing in just its third ever Concacaf U-17 Championship, delivered a performance for the ages by taking top spot in Group A and finishing the tournament as Champions.
That enabled Les Grenadiers to qualify for that year’s FIFA Under-17 World Cup, where the Caribbean side went toe-to-toe with some of the world’s best, bravely going down in defeat to Japan and eventual champions Nigeria, plus earning a 1-1 draw versus France.
Fast forward to present day and a new group of Grenadiers has the look of a team that can return to the World Cup.
The Haiti Under-17s just completed a tour of Europe that proved quite successful. A hard-fought 3-0 loss to a very strong Russia was followed by a 0-0 draw with Cyprus.
Yet the highlight of the tour came in the third and final affair, as Haiti dominated Romania in Bucharest and posted a 1-0 win thanks to a spectacular strike from MF Carl Fred Sainte, who eluded four defenders before scoring the match-winner.
It was a goal that was strikingly similar to Duckens Nazon’s sensational goal versus Cuba in Haiti’s 2-1 win last month in the final week of 2019-20 Concacaf Nations League Qualifying.
With this European tour under their belts, the Haiti U-17s can now turn their attention to the CU17, where they will face Honduras, El Salvador and Guyana in Group G.
Since that 2007 edition, Haiti has failed to advance from the group stage at the CU17, but this Haiti team has a look to it that evokes memories of the 2007 team, and it would surprise no one if the 2019 team’s journey ended with a return trip to football’s biggest stage.
