Joe Gaetjens
Encyclopedia
Joseph Edouard Gaetjens (ˈɡeɪdʒɛnz ; born , 1924, Port-au-Prince
, Haiti
; presumed dead
, 1964, Haiti) was a Haitian soccer player who played for the United States national team
in the 1950 FIFA World Cup
, scoring the winning goal in the 1–0 upset
of England
.
, had been sent to Haiti by Frederick William III
, the King of Prussia
, as a business emissary. The family was quite prosperous, and although by the time of Joe's birth their wealth had decreased significantly, they were still among the Haitian elite. When Gaetjens was born, his father even registered the birth certificate
with the German embassy, in case Joe ever wanted to gain German citizenship.
championships in 1942 and 1944. However, he could not make a living from professional soccer, so he went to New York City
in the late 1940s to study accounting at Columbia University
on a scholarship from the Haitian government. While there he played for Brookhattan
of the American Soccer League
, winning the league's scoring title. His success for the team attracted the attention of U.S. Soccer
, and Gaetjens made the national team for the 1950 World Cup.
Gaetjens played three games at the World Cup, but easily the most memorable was one of the greatest World Cup upsets in history, in which Gaetjens scored the decisive goal of a 1–0 victory in which the American soccer team defeated the hugely favored English at Belo Horizonte
. Walter Bahr
had taken a shot from about 25 yards away and the ball was heading to goalkeeper Bert Williams
's right. It appeared to be a relatively easy save, but Gaetjens dove headlong and grazed the ball enough that it went to the goalkeeper's left instead, with his momentum preventing him from stopping the ball. Williams later considered the goal to be a result of a lucky deflection, but this view was disputed by Laurie Hughes
, who was defending Gaetjens on the play.
Although Gaetjens was not a U.S. citizen, he had declared his intention of becoming one, and under the rules of the United States Soccer Football Association at that time was allowed to play. However, Gaetjens never actually did gain American citizenship. At the end of the World Cup, Gaetjens moved to France where he played briefly for Racing Club de Paris and Olympique Alès
, before returning to Haiti in 1954 to become a spokesman and entrepreneur. Gaetjens remained active in soccer, playing for Etoile Haïtienne again as well as the Haiti national team
on , 1953, in a World Cup Qualifier against Mexico
.
, and although the family also had connections to the new president, Gaetjens's younger brothers became associated with a group of exiles in the Dominican Republic
who wanted to stage a coup.
On , 1964, the morning after Duvalier declared himself "president for life", the rest of the Gaetjens family fled the country in fear of reprisal for the younger Gaetjens brothers' rebellious associations, but Joe stayed, thinking that Duvalier's regime would be uninterested in him since he was only a sports figure. That morning, he was arrested by the nation's notorious Tonton Macoute
s secret police and is presumed to have been killed some time that month. His body has never been found. Joe Gaetjens was posthumously inducted into the United States National Soccer Hall of Fame
in 1976.
Gaetjens is interpreted by Jimmy Jean-Louis
in the film The Game of Their Lives. In the film, he is depicted as a practitioner of Vodou (voodoo), but in reality Gaetjens, like most Haitians, grew up as a Catholic
.
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
, Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
; presumed dead
Death in absentia
Death in absentia is a legal declaration that a person is deceased in the absence of remains attributable to that person...
, 1964, Haiti) was a Haitian soccer player who played for the United States national team
United States men's national soccer team
The United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international association football competitions. It is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF...
in the 1950 FIFA World Cup
1950 FIFA World Cup
The 1950 FIFA World Cup, held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July, was the fourth FIFA World Cup. It was the first World Cup since 1938, the planned 1942 and 1946 competitions having been canceled owing to World War II...
, scoring the winning goal in the 1–0 upset
England v United States (1950)
On 29 June 1950, at the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, the United States defeated England 1–0 in a group match. This unexpected result has led to the match being described as the "Miracle on Grass", in reference to the 1980 Miracle on Ice, in which the US ice hockey team beat the Soviet Union. The...
of England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
.
Early life
Joe Gaetjens was born in Haiti to a Haitian mother and a German father. His great-grandfather Thomas, a native of BremenBremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, had been sent to Haiti by Frederick William III
Frederick William III of Prussia
Frederick William III was king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel .-Early life:...
, the King of Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
, as a business emissary. The family was quite prosperous, and although by the time of Joe's birth their wealth had decreased significantly, they were still among the Haitian elite. When Gaetjens was born, his father even registered the birth certificate
Birth certificate
A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a child. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation of the ensuing registration of that birth...
with the German embassy, in case Joe ever wanted to gain German citizenship.
Sporting career
Gaetjens joined Etoile Haïtienne at the age of 14 and won two Ligue HaïtienneLigue Haïtienne
The Division 1 Ligue Haïtienne, also recently referred to as the Digicel D1, is the premier and highest division football league in Haiti. It was created in 1937 and is headed by the Fédération Haïtienne de Football, the official governing body of football in the country...
championships in 1942 and 1944. However, he could not make a living from professional soccer, so he went to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in the late 1940s to study accounting at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
on a scholarship from the Haitian government. While there he played for Brookhattan
Brookhattan
New York Brookhattan was an American soccer club based in New York, New York that was a member of the professional American Soccer League. The club joined the ASL for its final season....
of the American Soccer League
American Soccer League
The American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States. The first American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For...
, winning the league's scoring title. His success for the team attracted the attention of U.S. Soccer
United States Soccer Federation
The United States Soccer Federation is the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Its headquarters are located in Chicago, Illinois. It is a member of FIFA and is responsible for governing amateur and professional soccer, including the men's, women's, youth, futsal...
, and Gaetjens made the national team for the 1950 World Cup.
Gaetjens played three games at the World Cup, but easily the most memorable was one of the greatest World Cup upsets in history, in which Gaetjens scored the decisive goal of a 1–0 victory in which the American soccer team defeated the hugely favored English at Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte is the capital of and largest city in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the country...
. Walter Bahr
Walter Bahr
Walter Alfred Bahr is a retired American soccer player, considered one of the greatest ever in his country. He was the long-time captain of the U.S. national team and played in the 1950 FIFA World Cup when the U.S...
had taken a shot from about 25 yards away and the ball was heading to goalkeeper Bert Williams
Bert Williams (footballer)
Bert Frederick Williams MBE is a former English international football goalkeeper. Nicknamed The Cat, he spent the majority of his playing career at Wolverhampton Wanderers where he won the League Championship and FA Cup....
's right. It appeared to be a relatively easy save, but Gaetjens dove headlong and grazed the ball enough that it went to the goalkeeper's left instead, with his momentum preventing him from stopping the ball. Williams later considered the goal to be a result of a lucky deflection, but this view was disputed by Laurie Hughes
Laurie Hughes
Lawrence Hughes was an England former international football player who played for Liverpool.-Life and playing career:...
, who was defending Gaetjens on the play.
Although Gaetjens was not a U.S. citizen, he had declared his intention of becoming one, and under the rules of the United States Soccer Football Association at that time was allowed to play. However, Gaetjens never actually did gain American citizenship. At the end of the World Cup, Gaetjens moved to France where he played briefly for Racing Club de Paris and Olympique Alès
Olympique Alès
Olympique Alès is a French association football club founded in 1923, based in the commune of Alès. The Cévennes club currently playing in the Division d'Honneur Régionale – the seventh division – of the Ligue du Languedoc; the club in the past has played for six seasons in Ligue 1...
, before returning to Haiti in 1954 to become a spokesman and entrepreneur. Gaetjens remained active in soccer, playing for Etoile Haïtienne again as well as the Haiti national team
Haiti national football team
The Haiti national football team represents Haiti in association football and is controlled by the Fédération Haïtienne de Football, the governing body for football in Haiti. Haiti's home ground is Stade Sylvio Cator in Port-au-Prince and their head coach is Edson Tavares...
on , 1953, in a World Cup Qualifier against Mexico
Mexico national football team
The Mexican national football team represents Mexico in association football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation , the governing body for football in Mexico. Mexico's home stadium is the Estadio Azteca and their head coach is José Manuel de la Torre...
.
Death
Gaetjens was not interested in politics, but his family was. He was related to Louis Déjoie (his great-grandfather Thomas married Leonie Déjoie), who lost the 1957 Haitian presidential election to François "Papa Doc" DuvalierFrançois Duvalier
François Duvalier was the President of Haiti from 1957 until his death in 1971. Duvalier first won acclaim in fighting diseases, earning him the nickname "Papa Doc" . He opposed a military coup d'état in 1950, and was elected President in 1957 on a populist and black nationalist platform...
, and although the family also had connections to the new president, Gaetjens's younger brothers became associated with a group of exiles in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
who wanted to stage a coup.
On , 1964, the morning after Duvalier declared himself "president for life", the rest of the Gaetjens family fled the country in fear of reprisal for the younger Gaetjens brothers' rebellious associations, but Joe stayed, thinking that Duvalier's regime would be uninterested in him since he was only a sports figure. That morning, he was arrested by the nation's notorious Tonton Macoute
Tonton Macoute
Tonton Macoutes was a Haitian paramilitary force created in 1959 by President François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier. In 1970, the militia was officially renamed the Milice de Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale .Haitians called this force the “Tonton Macoutes,” after the Haitian Creole mythological...
s secret police and is presumed to have been killed some time that month. His body has never been found. Joe Gaetjens was posthumously inducted into the United States National Soccer Hall of Fame
National Soccer Hall of Fame
The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 that honors soccer achievements in the United States.-History:...
in 1976.
Gaetjens is interpreted by Jimmy Jean-Louis
Jimmy Jean-Louis
Jimmy Jean-Louis is a Haitian actor and model best known for his role as The Haitian on the NBC television series Heroes. Born in Pétionville, he moved to Paris at a young age to pursue a modeling career. His early roles were in French musical theatre and television commercials...
in the film The Game of Their Lives. In the film, he is depicted as a practitioner of Vodou (voodoo), but in reality Gaetjens, like most Haitians, grew up as a Catholic
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
.
Further reading
- Cirino, Tony (1983). US Soccer vs The World, Damon Press. ISBN 0-910641-00-5