Haiti booked a ticket to France by defeating Canada, 1-0, in the 2018 CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship third place match on Sunday at Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, Trinidad and Tobago.
“It’s so crazy,” Mondesir said after Haiti’s historic 1-0 win over Canada in the 2018 CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship match for third place. “We worked hard and we are very happy. We’re going to celebrate for sure.”
Haiti hadn’t even reached the semifinal round in three previous CU20W appearances, which made becoming the first Caribbean team to qualify for the World Cup even more satisfying. It’s an achievement that left the Haitian captain nearly speechless.
“We are all proud of what we achieved against Canada today,” expressed Mondesir. “I don’t know what else there is to say.”
Canada went in to the match as the favourites as they had defeated Haiti 4-0 in the group stage earlier in the tournament. However, Haiti put pressure on the Canadian defence which eventually led to Jeudy's stunning strike, which was Haiti's first ever goal against Canada in the history of the competition.
Canada were forced to take the initiative in the second half as they went in search of an equaliser, but Haiti goalkeeper Kerly Theus and Co stayed focussed and disciplined throughout the contest and kept Jordyn Huitema and the Canadian attack at bay.