By Trevor Stynes
ATLANTA, June 24 (Reuters) - Haiti were the first team to exit the World Cup and, despite another defeat in their final game on Wednesday, they served up a thriller in Atlanta, almost putting Morocco to the sword, and showed just why they deserve their place in the tournament.
Haiti's return after a 52-year absence may have ended in similar fashion, three defeats from three, but they went out in style, with the first half offering up probably the most entertaining 45 minutes of football
at this World Cup so far.
'We Will Be Back' read a sign held up by a Haiti fan at Atlanta Stadium, and their performance against the 2022 semi-finalists showed they may not have to wait so long to return.
Morocco were looking for goals in a bid to top Group C, but Haiti twice took the lead. Morocco went on to win 4-2 in a game which will nevertheless serve as a wake-up call.
Haiti's only previous World Cup appearance came in 1974, and their qualification this time around was seen as a result of FIFA's decision to expand the tournament.
After a battling 1-0 loss to Scotland, Brazil proved too strong and Haiti went down 3-0 to exit the tournament, but their performance against Morocco will live long in the memory of the large contingent of passionate Haiti fans at Atlanta Stadium.
"We showed that we didn't steal our spot here," manager Sebastien Migne said. "We deserve to be here.
"I hope that what we gave the fans was good enough for them. Unfortunately, we didn't get a point, we would have loved to give at least a point to our fans."
Haiti captain and goalkeeper Johny Placide had announced that the Morocco game would be his last international match and the 38-year-old denied the Moroccans on several occasions, pulling off a stunning double save in the first half.
The opening lines from Haiti's anthem, which was belted out before kickoff, read 'For the Country, For the Ancestors, Let us march united, Let us march united', but this game and World Cup qualification was also in large part for the diaspora.
Haiti did not play any qualifiers at home due to the ongoing security crisis in a country torn apart by gang violence since 2021. Travel restrictions meant most of their support at the World Cup came from Haitians already living in the U.S.
Most of their players were also sourced from abroad, and Migne, who has yet to visit Haiti, is determined to take the country back to the world's biggest stage.
"We scored two goals, which is historic at a (single) World Cup game for Haiti," Migne said. "We'll keep working so that we can come back in four years from now."
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes, Editing by Ken Ferris)
