A couple of years ago I described here the goal scored by the late, great Emmanuel Sanon as shared with a Haitian cabbie in New York. The magic Phillipe Vorbe pass that deforested the Italian midfield and defence. A spell cast on Fabio Capello by Sanon's speed, shuffle and strike.
Looking back, I now realize I gave no credit to the colossal header from the Haitian back line that allowed Vorbe to send Sanon on his way. Belated props to No.4 Fritz Andre or No. 5 Serge Ducoste or perhaps channeling back, the No. 6 Pierre Bayonne or No. 8 Jean-Claude Desir. The next time I talk football with a Haitian, I won't forget to ask whose header it was that helped Emmanuel Sanon score the greatest goal in Haitian history.
Emmanuel Sanon died of pancreatic cancer in Florida on February 21st, 2008. The hospital administrators processing his bill were then not of a mind to close their facilities to Haitians in need.
Sanon's legend lives on among the children of Haiti as they head and tackle and pass and move and score goals around the tents of the Stade Sylvio Cator. The children do not know it yet, but they are merely warming up to face the colossal challenge of liberation against a heavily subsidized, globalized opponent equally as fierce as that which their fathers and mothers defeated in 1804.
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