On Saturday night, the Haiti National Football Team and Sporting KC’s own Soni Mustivar will take the field for Copa America for the first time in history. The historic match against Peru kicks off at 6:30 p.m. CT with national television coverage on FS1, UniMas, Univision and Univision Deportes. No Other Pub will also hold watch parties for every Copa America match, offering soccer fans a complimentary appetizer with the purchase of any beer pitcher.
The 2016 Centenario marks the first time Haiti has qualified to compete in the prestigious tournament since its inception 100 years ago. The team fought its way through regional qualifying and bested Trinidad and Tobago with a late lone goal to earn a spot in the competition, where the Haitian players find themselves alongside some of the most renowned teams and players in the world.
And as luck would have it, Haiti is set to face two of the world’s top-ranked teams in the tournament’s group stage, where Haiti finds itself among the ranks of Brazil, Ecuador and Peru. Brazil is currently No. 7 in FIFA’s national men’s team rankings, with Ecuador trailing not far behind at 13th. Haiti, on the other hand, clocks in at a distant 74th.
Fortunately for Haiti, the team’s first opponent, Peru, sits at a more modest place in the rankings at 48th. If the Grenadiers get what they need from their tenacious defense and dependable goalkeeper, Johnny Placide, they may just have a chance at gaining a bit of confidence in the first game of the group stage come Saturday night.
And pundits say they’ll need it, with many predicting Haiti won’t make it out of the group stage. A 3-1 defeat to Colombia in their final tune-up before this summer’s Copa America did little to boost the team’s confidence, but the side’s attitude toward the Centenario tournament remains far from the meager “We’re glad to be here,” sentiment. Last week, midfielder Soni Mustivar voiced the importance of the team’s performance in Copa America for the country as a whole.
“Hopefully we will be competitive,” he said. “That’s what we want. We don’t want to just be there and play the game. We want to do something big and special for our country. And I think that’s a possibility because we have a really good group.”
For the full Copa America Centenario schedule, check out SportingKC.com/Copa.
