4-0: Haiti brings down Tim Payne and New Zealand from the cloud
A rout of Haiti in front of a vibrant Haitian fans brought back to reality New Zealand and its viral side Tim Payne who in recent days went from being a rather unknown player to a network phenomenon, after losing 4-0 in a friendly match in preparation for the World Cup 2026.
Payne recently became the most viral player in the World Cup after a social media campaign by an Argentine ‘influencer’ that made him go from having less than 5,000 followers on Instagram to 4.5 million in just a few days, for the simple fact of making a “little-known” player known. But this unexpected fame did not prevent the full-back from the Wellington Phoenix of the Australian League from appearing in the photo of Haiti’s first goal, which came from his wing twelve minutes into the match and made it 1-0.
The goal enhanced the optimism of a fan dyed red and blue by the colors of Haiti, who rose en masse from their seats every time their team crossed the midfield, like a choreography, and began to jump and cheer as if they were waiting for the imminent goal. Miami is home to the largest Haitian community abroad, a palpable factor in the match that unfortunately for the Caribbean team will not be able to be replicated during the World Cup, in which Haiti will play group stage matches in this city.
TECHNICAL SHEET
4 – Haiti: Johny Placide (d.46, Alexandre Pierre); Carlens Arcus (m.65, Wilguens Paugain), Ricardo Ade (m.46, Hannes Delcroix), Jean-Kevin Duverne (m.72, Yassin Fortune), Martin Experience (m.68, Duke Lacroix); Dominique Simon (d.68, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde), Danley Jean Jacques (d.72, Carl Sainté); Josue Casimir (m.72, Louicius Don Deedson), Wilson Isidor (m.46, Lenny Joseph), Duckens Nazon (m.46, Frantzdy Pierrot), Ruben Providence (m.65, Derrick Etienne).
0 – New Zealand: Alex Paulsen (m.46, Max Crocombe); Tim Payne (m.46, Callan Elliot), Finn Surman (m.65, Nando Pijnaker), Tyler Bindon (m.46, Michael Boxall), Liberato Cacace (m.46, Francis de Vries); Alex Rufer, Marko Stamenic (m.65, Lachlan Bayliss); Eli Just (m.65, Ben Old), Sarpreet Singh (m.46, Callum McCowatt), Jesse Randall (m.46, Matt Garbett); Chris Wood (m.65, Kosta Barbarouses).
Goals: 1-0, m.12: Ruben Providence; 2-0, m.51: Lenny Joseph; 3-0, m.63: Frantzdy Pierrot; 4-0, m.87: Duke Lacroix.
Referee: Rubiel Vazquez (USA). He showed a yellow card to Alex Rufer, from New Zealand.
Incidents: friendly match played at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
The support of the fans was not interrupted in any of the 90 minutes, even when New Zealand posed more danger after being behind on the scoreboard and had several chances thwarted by the Haitian goalkeeper and the defense. However, the second half also belonged to the Caribbean team, which will play in the World Cup again on June 13 after more than half a century. His last participation was in Germany 1974.
The newcomer at half-time Lenny Joseph doubled the lead upon returning from the locker room, and on the hour mark Frantzdy Pierrot scored the third with a header that showed that Haiti does not lack talent up front, but that New Zealand does lack security at the back.
The Caribbean team could have let it go, but the tireless support of the public and the feeling of superiority against another World Cup team kept them wanting to find a counter, like the one that meant the fourth and final goal, scored by Duke Lacroix, which put the finishing touch to the Haitian party in South Florida.
