There were in the audience Fanfan Turenne and his group from Montreal, many Haitians from New York and about 100 Haitians from Haiti including Ghada Gebara and Louise Finnegan from Digicel Haiti who were the guests of honor in the VIP Lounge. All the Haiti-Miami flights were overbooked.
Digicel and Prestige Beer were the only sponsors of the live radio broadcast to Haiti and we thank them. Ronald Vaval was superb on Radio Caraibes FM and his broadcast was relayed by Radio Galaxie FM and on the internet. He was on the field in the rain to transmit the electricity reigning on the field and let the audience in Haiti share his experience.
The game was not televised to Haiti due to lack of sponsors. The players complained about that. They want the people in Haiti to see them live.The game was taped by Cajou TV of West Palm Beach and will be shown in Haiti on Caraibes TV Channel 22 on tape delayed. It is a shame that the Haitian people could not watch this game live on TV to follow their team and enjoy the thrills provided by these magnificent young ambassadors. Only those of us fortunate enough to be in the Orange Bowl tonight could enjoy the flow of this beautiful spectacle that this game truly was. The Haitian crowd and their Ra Ra Band stayed and danced and chanted Haitian fight songs at least an hour after the final whistle. They would have paid double to see this game, they said.
The friendly game was played under a heavy rain, but the Haitian National Team was determined to confirm that its victory in the Digicel Caribbean Cup was no fluke. This team is for real. They dominated Panama from the beginning with a very fluid game made of a series of intricate passes and at times showed a level of skills comparable to the JOGO BONITO of Brazil. The ambiance in the stadium was reminiscent of the Sylvio Cator Stadium atmosphere during CONCACAF 73. This was a home game for Haiti.
The goals were scored by Eliphene Cadet from Tempete of St Marc (27th minute), Brunel Fucien from Aigle Noir ( 53rd minute) and the field marshall Pierre Roland St Jean from Baltimore of St Marc (86th minute). Coach Luis Amelio Garcia made five substitutions and the level of the game remained the same. Pierre Jean Jacques came from Nantes, F.C., Fabrice Noel from Colorado Rapids, Stephane Guillaume from Miami F.C., two new Haitian Dutch players came from Holland, but they all jelled together under the discipline of Coach Garcia. This is not a team built around big stars. Everybody contributes.
Unfortunately, we received word from the studio in Haiti of the death of Michael Madsen, the CEO of Brasserie Nationale and Prestige Beer, a major sponsor of Haitian Football. Our dear friend, Michael, had a heart attack earlier today. We send our sincere condoleances to his brother Einar, his adopted son Ti Don Moore, his cousins Patrick and Ronald Madsen, his nephew Eric, Myriam, Dorothy, Dominique and the whole team at Brasserie Nationale that have been with Michael since the beginning of the brewry in 1976.
Joe Namphy
