One of the famous soccer players of the Haiti, who also played for the national soccer team of the United States in the FIFA World Cup in the year 1950, was Joe Gaetjens. His real birth name was Joseph Edouard Gaetjens. He was born on 19th of March 1924. The name of his birth city is Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He passed away at the age of only 46 in the month of July 1964.
In the FIFA World Cup for the year 1950 which was played by him for United States earned him a lot of fame because of his winning goal which was made by him in the match against England that led his team to a victory over England with 1-0. This winning goal made him renowned across the globe. His father was of German descent but mother was from Haiti.
The great-grandfather of the Joe Gaetjens was sent to Haiti as a business representative by the king of the time King of Prussia “Frederick William III”. Joe started his professional soccer career while he was only 14 by joining the “Etoile Haitienne”. He was the part of that team who won “Championship of Lique Haitienne” two times, one in 1942 and the other one in 1944.
But he could not manage his daily life with the earnings of professional soccer career so he decided to leave the area and moved to New York City. He decided to study here and got admission in Columbia University to study accounting on the scholarship basis. This scholarship was given by the government of Haiti. He, then gradually jumped to different soccer teams and finally reached to the final squad of FIFA World Cup 1950 and played for the United States.