Haiti's qualification to a World Cup final phase was a historic event for the island's residents with Franzi Piereau being the most famous of the National team footballers.
The experienced foreman, who belongs to the AEK but in the last six months played on loan in Turkish Rizespor gave a shocking interview in Spanish Marca, in which he talks about the difficulties he had to overcome to become a professional footballer but also what participation in the 2026 World Cup means to his compatriots.
In detail the most important pieces of the interview:
"I grew up spending days we had nothing to eat. My mother had to choose whether she would eat that day herself or feed us.".
It's not a simple phrase in the interview. It's probably the phrase that explains better than anything who Franzie Pierrot is and where he comes from.
Pierrot remembers a childhood where food was not always given at home. He remembers his mother making impossible decisions to raise the family. He remembers that he was not an only child and that the difficulties multiplied. And he also remembers where he grew up:
"We played on the street without football shoes. We used oranges for ball because they were small. When you kicked them, they hit rocks. And sometimes there were broken glass on the road that stuck on our feet. We had no money to go to the hospital, so you had to take these glasses off yourself," he assures.
The only way out: 90 minutes without shooting
Storytelling shocks because it does not describe an exception. He talks about a reality that even today remains alive for thousands of Haitian children. Pierrot does not tell a story of individual success (and he knows that in other countries similar or worse situations live), he talks about an entire country. That's why the World Cup acquires a completely different dimension when he explains it. Because in Haiti football is not just football. It is one of the few exits left in many people. An opportunity to forget, even for a few hours, about a daily life marked by violence, insecurity and lack of opportunity.
"Before our first game, the whole world was on the road. Imagine: from seven in the morning until the showdown begins. People were gathering to see it live. That day there was no shooting, no fighting. There was nothing, just football. The whole world was concentrated exclusively on the Haiti national team.".
While the rest of the world was watching a game, Haiti finally found a truce. For a few hours, the noise disappeared. For a few hours, the national team achieved something that few things succeed in the country today: to unite everyone around the same illusion. "The world sees us as hope. He sees us as happiness.".
When football stops fear
It is this responsibility that explains many of the emotions emerging during the debate. Because Pierrot knows perfectly what this World Cup represents for his people. He knows what it means to those who continue to live the same reality that he left behind. He knows that many of these children continue to play on streets similar to those in which he grew up. "Many people have the same story as me, but they never had a chance to tell it".
Maybe that's why he insists so much on kids throughout the interview. Because, having come this far, his obsession no longer only concerns football. Pierrot has created an institution with which he intends to help Haitian youth find opportunities he knows often do not exist. "In Haiti there are coaches to choose between taking out their coaching diploma or feeding their children".
The conversation returns to the everyday life of a country where sport and education remain an elusive dream for too many families. His goal is simple: to help other children have the opportunities he has found thanks to other people's help. Because he doesn't forget his route. "If I didn't have all this help on my way, I probably wouldn't be here today," he says, before explaining that at 11 years old he left to live in Massachusetts.
And while he remembers everything he had to live to reach the World Cup, Brazil appears on the horizon. The group's big favourite and one of the teams with most supporters in Haiti. For years, he explains, many Haitians grew up supporting Brazil or Argentina because they could rarely see their own national in major tournaments. Now the situation has changed. "Now they only have one choice. They must support us.".
Pierrot also explains why the time he scores makes the move that he picks up a phone, because it's his way of calling those following him. "If I score tomorrow, I'll call you. So, MARCA, if I score tomorrow, don't forget to pick it up.".
While pursuing Mundial's dream, Pierrot also completed his studies in Criminalology. His parents taught him that football could end at any moment. So when asked about the future, he is surprised at an unexpected confession: he would like to be an FBI agent.
"If something very serious happened tomorrow, who would they call? Exactly. FBI. Many people, even many of my teammates, didn't know that about me. Because I'm a quiet man.".