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| The tragic story of a country's World Cup hero; yet, nobody remembers him. | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 15 2009, 10:14 AM (86 Views) | |
| reebokmecca | Dec 15 2009, 10:14 AM Post #1 |
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Belief. Passion. England.
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Last player to score winner for US against England in the World Cup... was murdered ENGLAND kick off their World Cup campaign next June with a match against the USA. And if the game ends the same way as our shock 1-0 loss to the States in the 1950 tournament, the American goalscorer should be warned. After that famous match in Brazil, the US underdogs should have enjoyed a life as national heroes. But for striker Joe Gaetjens, victory was short-lived. Gaetjens destroyed England's hopes in the tournament with a wonder goal to seal what is still considered America's greatest ever win - and England's worst defeat. But while Wayne Rooney and Co will be desperate to avoid a repeat of the Brazil finals, defeat in South Africa will not be as devastating as the fate that befell Gaetjens. In 1964, he was arrested at gunpoint in Haiti by brutal secret police loyal to murderous dictator Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier and was never seen again. Gaetjens was born to a Haitian mother and Belgian father in 1924. When he was picked for the hastily assembled 1950 US World Cup squad he was an accounting student and part-time dishwasher. He also played semi-pro football in the American Soccer League in New York. He qualified for the national side because he declared his intention to gain US citizenship. Like most of the US side, Gaetjens was also a party animal. In Geoffrey Douglas's 1996 book The Game Of Their Lives, the striker is quoted describing how the team visited 12 bars in Rio on the night before the big game. Even the US coach admitted they had "no chance" of winning and just wanted to enjoy their trip. A UK newspaper wrote at the time: "The Americans strolled into the dressing rooms in Belo Horizonte - surely the strangest team ever to be seen at the World Cup. "Some wore stetsons, some smoked big cigars and some were still in the happy early stages of hangovers." Gaetjens liked to stand out on the pitch. He would customise his kit by ripping it down the front and, like many later iconic players refused to pull up his socks or tuck his shirt in his shorts. He even had a nickname - Joey G. Team-mate Harry Keough said: "He'd say, 'Harry, Harry, they want me to... ' And I'd say, 'Don't worry about it, Joe - they'll never notice. Just wait till the game starts, then let the socks fall down.' Then the next thing you know, he'd have his jersey ripped half-way down the front." Despite his hangover, in the 37th minute Gaetjens scored the game's only goal, earning him cult status. It was the only time the two sides have met in the World Cup and it is a feat the likes of Landon Donovan, who could come up against LA Galaxy team-mate David Beckham in South Africa, will be desperate to repeat. Joey G's team-mates claimed he dived 12 feet "as though he could fly" to connect with a diving header and put the ball past England keeper Bert Williams. Other reports claimed it was more of a belly flop that ended with the ball grazing off his head. Keough, now 82, said: "Only Joe would have tried something as crazy as that. And even Joe, if he were alive and sitting here now, couldn't tell you how that ball made it in." Gaetjens was a humble hero. He insisted: "It was Walter Bahr that kicked it. All I did was dive." The English favourites, including Alf Ramsey and Tom Finney, crashed out at the group stage with bitter stars branding the goal "an accident". Fabio Capello's men will need to come up with a better excuse than that if they lose in Rustenburg on June 12. After 1950 Gaetjens continued his footie career in France. But four years later he quit to return to Haiti, where he married Lyliane Defay and started a family. His widow once said: "He wanted a football team" - but he only managed three sons before tragedy struck. On returning to Haiti he took over a dry-cleaning business and played for his local team while coaching youth teams. His younger brother, Jean-Pierre, said: "He was still active and well-known in the sport area in Haiti." But his likeable personality and cult-hero status did not save him when his family became embroiled in a dangerous, political battle. Although Gaetjens was not political, his family worked for the rival of Haitian dictator Duvalier. And when Duvalier became president in 1957, Gaetjens' mother and his other brother, Gerard, were arrested and murdered by a death squad. The rest of the family fled the country. But the innocent Gaetjens was defiant. He stayed in Haiti. On July 8, 1964, Duvalier's personal police force, the Tonton Macoutes, arrived at Gaetjens' home before their victim got there. Lyliane later revealed: "As Joe drove up, my mother tried to warn him. But he couldn't understand what she was saying. "He couldn't think that anyone would want to do him harm." Gaetjens was taken, with a pistol held to his head by the heavies, and they forced him to drive in his own car to a police station. His brother Jean-Pierre added: "His wife received the authorisation to get the car three or four days later, and from there we have no trace of him." Lyliane and their sons went into hiding and fled the country two years later. For years his family desperately searched for him but it was not until 1986 - after Duvalier lost power - that they were able to return to Haiti and begin their search for answers. Later that year Jean-Pierre met a former senator who had been a fellow prisoner with Gaetjens at Fort Dimanche prison. He was transferred to another jail not long after the footballer arrived. Jean-Pierre said: "Three or four days after the senator left, a prison guard told him he was lucky because last night they had killed everybody at Fort Dimanche. "That's when we think he must have been killed, around mid-July. "But we never knew for sure. They had destroyed any evidence on everybody who was killed under Duvalier. They burned or destroyed everything." It has been estimated the dictator was responsible for 30,000 deaths during his 14-year reign of terror in the Caribbean country. And while Joey G might be gone he is not forgotten. In 1976 the Organisation Of American States condemned Haiti's government for his arrest and he was finally enshrined in the US Soccer Hall of Fame. He will certainly be remembered by English and American fans on June 12. But the English will be praying there is no repeat result. |
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4:32 PM Jul 13