Joe Gaetjens
Joseph Eduard Gaetjens, Jo Gaetjens, ( born March 19, 1924 in Port-au -Prince, † probably 1964) was a Haitian soccer player who was known at the Football World Cup 1950 by the winner of the USA against England, although he did was not an American.
The son of a Haitian mother and a German -born father came in the late 1940s from Haiti to the U.S. to study at Columbia University. After the U.S. had perished at the Olympic Games '48 with 0:9 against Italy and later another debacle suffered in friendlies, eg 00:11 in Norway, reinforcements were desperately looking for, but it was hardly any progress, as evidenced by two World Cup qualifying defeats with six goals conceded against Mexico. Somehow they managed the then slight qualification with a win and a draw against Cuba.
After a Scout Gaetjens had seen play and had approached, he applied for U.S. citizenship and was called before it was issued in 1950 in the squad of the U.S. national team for the World Cup 1950 in Brazil. Already in the first game against Spain, the USA managed a moderate success, as they had done to 80.Minute and then lost with 1:3.
A few days later Gaetjens headed the legendary goal in a 1-0 victory for the U.S. against England, the first time took part in a World Cup and the surprising resignation in the first round he contributed (England and still lost against Spain ). The protest of the English against the eligibility of him and his Belgian-born Haitian compatriot Joe Maca as well as the Scottish team captain Ed McIlvenney was rejected by FIFA arbitration with the idiosyncratic grounds that all submitted an application for naturalization, and then get the U.S. Association of a release would. No source claims that Gaetjens ever actually U.S. citizens was even after this success. The goal against England was his only World Cup matches, the U.S. lost their third game against Chile with 2:5.
After the World Cup Gaetjens went for three years to France and played for AS Troyes in the second division. Then he went back to his home, where he worked as a sales representative for Colgate -Palmolive and its own laundry in Port -au -Prince led. Besides, he continued to play football and took part in a 1953 qualifier for the FIFA World Cup 1954 for Haiti against Mexico.
On 8 July 1964, he was kidnapped by the infamous Tonton Macoute Haitian secret police, because his brothers had occurred in exile for opponents of Duvalier. Since then he has been missing.
In the movie " The Game of Their Lives " ( 2005) of the light-skinned Catholic Gaetjens is falsely represented as a black voodoo followers.