1974 - Haiti Observer Blog

Do not let yourself fouled by the recent performance of the Haitian Soccer team, the days of great Haitian soccer seem to be well behind us. Haiti is unable to give birth to people like Emmanuel Sanon, Phillippe Vorbe, Ernst Jean-Joseph, Henry Francillon, Arsene Auguste, Pierre Bayonne, Roger Saint-Vil, just to name a few.

You may think that I am dreaming but the reality is that what we were so good at doing in the past just stays in the past.

We were the number one in soccer for the Caribbean

With sadness, I am announcing that this will never happen again. This position of being king in the Caribbean as far as soccer is concerned has slipped away from our hands.

Read more →  

Emmanuel Sanon, aka Manno, became a top-rated soccer player for Haiti's National Team (HNT). Born in Port-au-Prince in 1951, he was schooled at Lycee de Petion-Ville High School.

Four years after joining HNT in 1970, Manno and his teammates played for the FIFA World Cup in Europe. HNT had fought its way through the qualifying rounds of the World Cup play-offs, and successful, found themselves facing a trio of daunting competitors: Italy, Argentina, and Poland.

HNT lost to all three, yet Manno made a lasting impression on the soccer world. During the game against Italy, Manno surprised everyone by scoring the first goal of the game. What was so incredible about this achievement is Italy goalkeeper, Zoff, had not permitted any opposition players to score a goal in two-plus years.

Read more →  

Haiti's national soccer team, the Haiti National Football team (HNFT) has been competing since the 1960s in CONCACAF. Making the cut for the World Cup in 1974, they played against fierce competitors, the Italians.

Although they did not win, they made an impression with star player, Emmanuel Sanon, making the opening winning goal. In 1974 Antoine Tassy coached the HNFT with a roster of 22 players.

Here is the list of 1974 World Cup Haitian players in picture

Here is the list of players:

Henry Francillon, Goalkeeper - DOB: May 25, 1946 - Club: Victory Club Port-au-Prince

Read more →