the authors of the three superb goals scored at the 40th, 70th and 85th minute. Honduras had opened the score by a penality shot at the 8th minute.

But the Man of the Match was again Captain Bruny Pierre Richard who masterminded the defense and created some beautiful goal chances for his partners, including the first goal by Boucicaut. The Colombian Coach of Honduras, Reynaldo Rueda, had called on his veteran Carlos Pavon who played professional in Spain, Italy and Mexico, but everything he tried failed in front of a determined Haitian defense and Peterson Occena, Haiti's new young goalie who was not about to let another goal in after the penality shot.

This was Haiti's first victory against Honduras in five years and third in the last 10 years.  Honduras had won eight previous games during that time.  This new Haitian Team does not seem to accept defeat against anybody including teams they were not suppose to beat, like Trinidad, Salvador and Honduras. 

Alexandre Boucicaut controlling the ball during a game in Miami

Haiti may have played its best game yet by beating Honduras 3-1 in the Municipal Stadium in La Ceiba, third largest city after Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula.  After landing in Tegucigalpa on a flight from San Salvador, the Haitian team travelled by bus for five hours to cover the 350 kms of a beautifully paved road connecting La Ceiba with the capital. La Ceiba is on the Caribbean coast of Honduras.

In spite of an enthusiastic crowd that did everything to help their national team, the 30.000 Hondurenos had to admit the superiority of the Haitian stars by the name of Alexandre Boucicaut, Eliphene Cadet, and Peter Germain,

Bruny Pierre-Richard, a masterminded defense player

The Gold Cup drawing is over.  The Concacaf Office in New York has completed the drawing for the Gold Cup. Haiti is in Miami with Costa Rica, Canada, and Guadeloupe.

Here are the three groups: GROUP A IN MIAMI
Haiti, Canada, Guadeloupe, and Costa Rica
GROUP B IN NEW YORK USA, Guatemala, EL Salvador, and Trinidad
GROUP C IN LOS ANGELES Mexico, Honduras, Panama, and Cuba
Haiti games will be played in Miami's Orange Bowl on June 6, 9 and 11, 2007.

time we met them.  And in friendly tune up games, Haiti beat Panama 3-0 in the Orange Bowl last March 24, Haiti beat El Salvador 1-0 in San Salvador on April 17, and Haiti defeated Honduras 3-1 in La Ceiba, Honduras on April 19 in front of 20,000 fans. All these teams are also qualified for the Gold Cup, but Honduras and Panama will play in the New York Group against Mexico and Cuba, and Guatemala will play in the Los Angeles Group against USA,  El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago.

The present success of Haitian Football is not an accident. It is the result of a lot of hard work and countless hours by a lot of dedicated individuals, the 16 teams of the DIGICEL Haiti National Division, COPA LATINA, Haiti CUP Mme Gougousse, and  the National Teams A, U 17 and U 20,  including Pierre Jean Jacques to Nantes, Peguero Jean Philippe to Colorado, New York Red Bull and to Denmark, Fabrice Noel to Colorado Rapids, Stephane Guillaume, Jamil Jean Jacques, Guinguine Obas, and Fenelon Gabart to Miami F.C., Bruny Pierre Richard, Josue Mayard, Eliphene Cadet, Alexandre Boucicaut, Peter Germain, Brunel Fucien, Mones Chery, Fabien Vorbe, Herold Charles, Jr. etc...

GO HAITI UNTIL FINAL VICTORY.  GRENADIERS A L'ASSAUT!

Joe Namphy

Remember that same week the national team won a friendly game over El Salvador 1-0, thus building up their confidence and getting them ready for the GOLD CUP in Miami. On June 6, Haiti plays Guadeloupe at 9:00 PM, Costa Rica on June 9, and Canada on June 11. If Haiti finishes first or third in its group, we will qualify for the quarterfinal in Boston.  If Haiti finishes second, we will play the quarterfinal in Houston.  We prefer to go to Boston. Which means HAITI MUST BEAT GUADELOUPE  AND TIE OR BEAT COSTA RICA to insure our qualification before we play Canada on Monday. ALL HAITIANS MUST CONVERGE ON THE ORANGE BOWL FOR THOSE THREE GAMES. We don't care if you have to walk,drive, fly or swim to Miami, just BE THERE.

And of course, the talk at the FIU Stadium revolved around the GOLD CUP that the D.J. kept on promoting as the "MUST BE THERE FOR ALL HAITIANS", when we must "Turn the Orange Bowl into the Stade Sylvio Cator ambiance".

As a reminder, in the DIGICEL Caribbean Cup last January, Haiti beat Guadeloupe 3-1 in Trinidad before beating Trinidad 2-1, and we tied Costa Rica 3-3 in San Jose the last