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 Born of a
German
father and a Haitian mother Joe started playing soccer at the age of 14
for the well known Haitian club L' Etoile Haitiene and played for them
against the National Soccer League all-star team of New York when they
toured Haiti in 1941.
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Personal Information |
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Class of 1976 |
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Born:
March 19, 1924 - Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
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Died: July 10, 1964 - Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
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Position:
Forward |
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Int'l
Caps: 3 |
Int'l
Goals: 1 |
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In the late 1940s he moved to the U.S. on a Haitian
government scholarship to attend Columbia University. In New York he
played for Brookhattan in the American Soccer League, and won the scoring
title in 1950. Along the way he worked as a dishwasher in a restaurant to
make ends meet. His scoring ability attracted the attention of the
selectors for the U.S. national team and he became a member of the 1950
World Cup team. In Brazil, Joe scored the famous goal that beat England
1-0 in Belo Horizointe. Following the World Cup he moved to France, where
he stayed for three years, and played for the Racing Club of Paris where
his close friend was Rene Vignal. Later willing to play in
warmer weather Joe was transferred to ALES in the south of
France. After leaving France Joe returned to Haiti where he became a spokesman for Colgate and Palmolive
and owned his own dry cleaning stores. He continued to play soccer and
played for Haiti against Mexico in a World Cup qualifying game in
Port-au-Prince on December 27, 1953. On July 8, 1964 Joe was arrested by
the Tontons Macoutes, the notorious Haitian secret police, and was never
seen again.
revised 1/29/07
Leander Schaerlaeckens writes an update to the Joe Gaetjens story on ESPN's Soccernet.com: Chasing Gaetjens
U.S. National Team
Statistics |
