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[panoramix]

There're nearly no incentives given to young soccer players living in Haiti, yet Haiti U-17 reached the final round of the CONCACAF World Cup U-17 qualifiers. This group made it among the top 8 teams of the region, losing 2:0 to mighty Mexico and earning a point against Honduras. Most of the boys that the young Grenadiers were playing against have contracts with a professional Club and can aspire to a professional football career. Using the term "semi-professional" to describe the Haitian leagues and the Haitian Federation (Federation Haitienne de Football) for that matter is a stretch and the players main reason to be on the field is their love for the game.

Haiti is a world renowned football loving nation, yet in 2003 half of our U-20 team defected after playing the final round of the World Cup U-20 qualifiers in the USA. It's sad and difficult to understand that players with the talent to reach that level would throw it all away to venture in a foreign land without legal immigration papers. Haiti's ups and downs at all international level is not solely the consequences of the frequent political crisis of the nation, but the inconsistence is also a direct effect of poor vision and management by Haiti's football officials.