Jean would know. He was among the kids raised on that Brazil team. But he also carved his own path. He played in just two FIFA-sanctioned matches for Haiti, and countless more both in his native land and later in Brazil.
It was enough for the Brazilians to give him a nickname.
“Jair, they used to call me (shorthand for Jarzinho, a member of the 1970 World Cup winning team)” he tells GOAL with a laugh, standing on a bustling street in Philadelphia.
Jean perhaps sells himself a little bit short. He represented the Haitian National Team at both a professional and amateur level, from 1974 to 1978. As a club player, he played in various leagues around the island and then in the United States – where he moved to become a financial advisor in the late 70s.
“It was not the way it is right now. We had the Super League, other different leagues, and so on and so forth. I played with various teams, but not fully professionally. Because at the time, we didn’t have the capacity. The financial situation was not the same,” he said.
And even if his heart is tied to Haitian soccer, like so many, he grew up an avid Brazil fan. He remembers the days of Pele and Jairzinho – even if he preferred Edu, a prolific goalscorer for Santos throughout the 60s and 70s. He played with against Carlos Alberto and Rivellinho in various friendlies. He traveled to Brazil, over and over. Back then, they were his rivals. But they were also his friends.
“It was fantastic,” he recalls with a chuckle, standing in a Haiti jersey, with a flag draped over his shoulders.
Jean has lived in New York for nearly 50 years now, following both Haiti and Brazil. But Friday night, there is only one team he wants to win.
“Now it’s not the same. We know that we have to compete. We’re playing for a reason. We’re in a World Cup right now. We qualified, so we can actually do for ourselves,” he said.
It’s a sentiment shared by most of the bustle of Philadelphia. Numa St. Louis was born in New York but raised in Haiti. He played soccer in high school and college. He still plays every week. He is, in his own words, a ‘massive soccer fan.’
And he gets the connection with Brazil.
“Most Haitians root for Brazil: the style, the music. Not just that, though, culturally, historically, there’s a connection between Haiti and Brazil that most people don’t realize,” St. Louis said. “Haitians have long admired the Brazilian style of play: the flair, the passes, the dribbling. Brazilians admire that approach.”
