Whenever Haiti need a hero, Duckens Nazon always seems to answer. His latest Superman act transpired earlier this month, when he came off the bench and scored a hat-trick to rally Les Grenadiers from a two-goal half-time deficit to secure a 3-3 draw against Costa Rica in Concacaf qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 26™.
The result keeps the Caribbean side in the mix for an automatic berth, as they sit two points behind Group C leaders Honduras after two matches. Whether it be in qualifying, the Concacaf Gold Cup or the Nations League, Nazon delivers, and his prolific nature has brought him on to 43 international goals, four behind Emmanuel Sanon on Haiti’s all-time scoring chart.
Amazingly, the three goals in Costa Rica almost never happened for the man who plies his trade thousands of miles away in IR Iran with Esteghlal, with Nazon having to decide between playing a crucial qualifier, or potentially missing the birth of his child. In the end, it fortunately all worked out for the Haiti hitman, who spoke to FIFA about the long lengths he will go to bring glory to his country.
Duckens Nazon: I’m really sad because I think we could have gotten six points. When we play in Curaçao on that synthetic grass, it’s quite difficult for some teams, so I think for us it’s the moment to take points because we are used to playing on this kind of pitch. But I’m staying positive because we’re still in the push for the qualification. The atmosphere of the group also is getting stronger because when we are 2-0 down and come back to make it 3-2, it’s something magical. We showed some character and people know now we have this power.
The only positive aspect is that we didn’t lose. That’s the only thing for me because I’m a winner and I just see the winning way. To be fair, we could have lost also. They had a shot hit the crossbar and had some chances. In this kind of tournament, no-one knows each other and everybody is analysing things. But I think if you start aggressively and try to shock the opponent, you can get something really positive from it because nobody is really ready.
I was on the bench to start, and I went into the changing room and the atmosphere was so weird. I saw the boys and was trying to give them confidence. At 2-0 down, I just said to the guys that we have to believe. It’s 45 minutes and we’re just going to have to give the best of ourselves and let’s see how it goes.
Keylor and I have talked before. He invited me to his games in Paris. I know the guy who manages everything for him and Paris Saint-Germain is five minutes from my house in the Paris suburbs. Keylor is the best goalkeeper in the world on his line. He’s a cat. Normally, when I have a penalty, I’m so confident, I never miss a penalty for the national team. So I said, I will go to the same side I go every time, but against Keylor I had doubts because he is so fast and he does his homework. He knows who is shooting and where they shoot. This makes the difference between small goalkeepers and big goalkeepers. But after I scored, I saw the reaction of the Costa Rica players, they started to have doubts and looked scared, so I said to the guys, we have to push now.
I was in the middle of the area, and I pushed Frantzdy [Pierrot] a bit because he was fighting with the defender, so I pushed him on to the defender, the ball came to me and boom! I didn’t even realise it. I just heard the screaming and I ran. I didn’t even know if I scored. It was magic.
For a striker, if he doesn’t have goals, he feels bad. If I don’t score for one week or two weeks, I can be in a really, really bad mood in my life. Everything revolves around it because we love football so much. Scoring a goal is a sensation you cannot describe, and I live for that.
Against Honduras, the coach gave me about 20 minutes, and I was ok with that because he told me before that I was only going to play that much. I said, ‘Alright, we’re here to qualify the country and I’m not more important than the country’. So after the Honduras game, we trained several times and you know who starts by who gets the bib during training, and I wasn’t given a bib…. I was really frustrated because I wouldn’t start the Costa Rica game. I was getting really mad, because I’m here, I’m the most effective right now. I took this flight from the other side of the world. I had traveled the furthest on the team and I’m not playing. My wife had an appointment for a Caesarian after the Costa Rica game, but she called and said the baby could come at any moment. So, I said to the coach, I think I will not play the game. I will take the flight and go.
He told me that I was important for the spirit of the team, but I’m not a comedian, you know? I’m a football player, I’m here to play and help the country. He wanted me to stay and said the best scenario would be for me to go in [as a sub] and score the winning goal. I said to him, with all the humility I have, that it would be a mistake, because I’m the guy who’s going unlock the situation tomorrow, and that if you need something positive from this, it’s going to be by me. I called my wife and I said I’m taking the risk. She was crying, but I just had to close off everything and focus on the game. And then all of these things happened, it was crazy traveling back, but I arrived in time [for the birth] and it was magic. I think God sees everything.
We need to win. They are not so far from us in terms of level, but we need to get points now. If we want to dream, we need to win. It’s pretty straightforward.
Of course we can. We are here now in the last group. If we couldn’t, we wouldn’t be here. We can and hopefully we will.
I don’t know… I have no words to describe how it would feel if we qualify for the World Cup. From my point of view, it means my life, because I’ve given so much. I make so many sacrifices for Haiti that people don’t know. I would do anything for Haiti. There are so many critics, but still I’m here and I give my life for them. So many people in Haiti deserve joy and happiness, and I hope also if we qualify, we can really change many things in the country. That’s the key now to change the situation, so it’s going to be so many positive things. I cannot tell you what exactly, but that’s why we have to qualify, to bring positive change to Haiti.
Photos courtesy of Concacaf
