MIAMI (AP) \u2014 Members of Miami\u2019s Haitian community pressed against a stage on a rainy Saturday to cheer on forward Duckens Nazon, defender Martin Experience and other members of the country\u2019s national soccer team ahead of a pair of friendly matches next week.<\/p>\n
For a few hours, nothing else mattered for the soccer-loving people of the troubled Caribbean country, which is playing in the World Cup<\/a> for the first time in 52 years.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will show that we are united, no matter what,\u201d Nazon said in Creole, standing in front of a large Haitian flag commemorating Haitian Heritage Month, which is celebrated every May in the U.S.<\/p>\n \u201cI want for this World Cup to be the beginning of a new Haiti,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Since qualifying for the World Cup for only the second time in the country\u2019s history, players have vowed to represent hope and joy for the nation, which has been beset by crisis and instability.<\/p>\n That pride was on display Saturday at an art museum in North Miami, which houses one of the largest Haitian populations in the United States.<\/p>\n Fans draped themselves in Haitian flags and danced to upbeat compas music<\/a> while children kicked around soccer balls at the small meet-and-greet.<\/p>\n Many were in awe at seeing their country reach soccer\u2019s biggest stage again.<\/p>\n \u201cAt my age, I\u2019ve listened and read about Haiti being in the World Cup in the 70s but never got a chance to see them play,\u201d said 49-year-old Odeline Paul, who has lived in Miami since she was 13. \u201cIt is such an amazing event to be here, at least to meet them, and to bring my son to be in this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul said she won\u2019t be able to attend any of Haiti\u2019s matches. Tickets are too expensive for her to go in person \u2014 a dilemma that many soccer fans<\/a> are running into \u2014 but she\u2019ll attend one of the watch parties happening in Miami.<\/p>\n She brought her son to Saturday\u2019s event so he could learn about Haiti and its tense history.<\/p>\n \u201cTo teach about the culture, to teach about what it took for us to be in the World Cup. Now to make it, no words can describe the feeling,\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are a people of resilience. It doesn\u2019t matter how many times we fall,\u201d she added. \u201cWe always get up. And that\u2019s my country.\u201d<\/p>\n The euphoria of the historic moment \u2014 Haiti\u2019s only other World Cup appearance was at the 1974 tournament in West Germany \u2014 has been amid the backdrop of the violence, hunger<\/a> and homelessness<\/a> that the country is grappling with.<\/p>\n Armed gangs control up to 90% of its capital<\/a>, Port-au-Prince, where the team\u2019s home stadium is located, forcing Haiti to play its \u201chome\u201d World Cup qualifiers in the tiny Dutch Caribbean island of Cura\u00e7ao<\/a>. And a U.S. visa for the squad\u2019s only Haiti-based player<\/a> has yet to come through as the administration of President Donald Trump continues to expand travel restrictions from countries including Haiti.<\/p>\n For Guensine Ambo, who has lived in Miami for 35 years, the team\u2019s qualification was a needed bright spot, regardless of how far they advance.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is one of the things that is helping us to come together as a people,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are on a high. And no matter win or lose, we are going to stay on this high because it took us 52 years to get here.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n