HOUSTON, Texas – There is no question that Haiti has been one of the most talked about teams in the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup for the three wins it posted in Group B using the tournament’s youngest squad at 24.33 years.
Coincidentally, this was news to Haiti itself.
“We are?” said Haiti MF Derrick Etienne when told that Haiti had the youngest team in the Gold Cup.
But just because Haiti is young does not mean it can’t go further in this Gold Cup.
“We are a young group but we’re also very hungry, said Etienne in an exclusive interview with Concacaf.com following Haiti’s training session on Thursday.
“We have a lot of guys who understand what this means for the nation in general, so we understand that we are not just playing for ourselves. We respect everybody but we don’t fear anybody. We don’t look at the history, we want to make history,” added Etienne.
Haiti’s 2019 Gold Cup started in historic fashion by winning its group for the first time, which was a significant achievement for the squad.
“Winning the group for the first time in Haiti history means a lot. It was objective of ours to come out and win as many games as possible, but that’s history now. We want to make it as far as possible,” said Etienne.
Standing in Haiti’s way in the quarterfinals is another young team, Canada, that has impressed in the tournament.
“Canada is also a young team, with a lot of good players. We have to understand going into the game what it’s going to be like. We understand they are a quality side so we have to be sound defensively. It’s good that we create a lot of chances, but we need to capitalize more on our chances,” said Etienne.
Etienne is also glad to see the performances of other Caribbean teams in the Gold Cup, showing that the level of football in the Caribbean has improved greatly.
“As a Caribbean player it’s nice to see. When we had the Caribbean Cup and the Nations League, you see that there’s talent in the Caribbean, so for us to be able to come out and showcase ourselves on a platform like the Gold Cup and Nations League shows Caribbean footballers have quality,” concluded Etienne.
