My First World Cup: Dani Etienne on her family’s football heritage and bringing joy to Haiti
Dani Etienne has always been ready for the eyes of the world to be on her. “When my brother and I were growing up playing soccer, my dad and my mom always envisioned us being spokespeople for our teams so they would interview us at home,” she explains after a day of classes in her final year at Fordham University has come to an end. “We did mock interviews all of the time, so I feel like I’m kind of a pro at knowing what I need to say.”
Growing up as the daughter of former Richmond Kickers and Long Island Rough Riders forward Derrick Etienne and the younger sibling of Derrick Etienne Jr., who currently plays for Atlanta United in Major League Soccer, it would have been easy for Dani to be outshone by those in her own home en route to soccer stardom. However, having followed in the footsteps of both her father and her brother in representing Haiti internationally, this summer she will be the first member of the family to appear at a World Cup.
It is not possible to fully appreciate Etienne’s story without delving further into her family’s football background. Born in Richmond, Virginia, her first memories of the sport come from watching her dad play. “When I was a baby I was at the games not really knowing what was going on or why I was there, but I was at his games,” she says. “When he won championships he would run over to my siblings and I and sit with us. From early on I was around it [football].
“Nine years old. That’s when I was really like ‘Dani wants to play soccer’,” she says as rays of sunlight flicker through the slats in the blinds behind her and travel over 3,000 miles across the world to rainy London via Zoom. “My dad and my brother were my coaches, they were my team-mates, they were all that. I still take advice from my dad all the time and I still call my brother when I have any questions about the game. They’ve always played a big role in my career and they continue to play a big role.”
Family is understandably at the heart of her relationship with football. It is therefore no great surprise that Etienne’s first World Cup memory is better remembered for who she was with rather than what happened. “I was at home watching the game with my dad,” she recalls. “I couldn’t even tell you what year this was, but it was the US [playing] and I just remember Alex Morgan scoring a header to win the game. I was so excited; I was running around the living room with a soccer ball at my feet like ‘oh my God!’.
“That was when it really clicked that one day I hoped I would get there and I remember my dad saying ‘you can do it, of course you can do it’. I didn’t really think about what team it would be with, but wherever, whoever, I was going to be at the World Cup at some time.”
Etienne was 16 when she first visited Haiti, but she insists her connection with the country is as deep as that of any of her team-mates. “A lot of us come from different areas,” she says after extolling the virtues of authentic Haitian food. “Not everyone was born in Haiti; some in Canada, some in the States. We have the understanding that it didn’t make us any more or any less Haitian. When we all come together we have the same goal – we want to make Haiti proud. Our heart is in the same place.”
Haiti are preparing for a first-ever appearance at a Women’s World Cup this summer courtesy of an inter-confederation play-off win against Chile in February. Etienne was on the bench when team-mate Melchie Dumornay scored a 98th-minute goal to secure the team’s place at the tournament but that by no means dulled the emotional vigour of the moment.
“I can barely explain it,” she says, seemingly still overcome by the sensation several months later. “We were crying through the entire stoppage time. We felt like we were knocking on the door of history. I just remember when the final goal went in we were screaming, jumping up and down.
“We feel like we have a lot of responsibility to bring happiness and joy to Haiti so in that moment it was like we had managed to make sure Haiti has its name in the conversation on the biggest stage in world football. I don’t think anything could overcome that feeling other scoring in an actual World Cup.”
Haiti have been drawn in Group D alongside Denmark, China and one of favourites to win the competition, England. Given the confidence with which Etienne has approached both our interview and her career so far, it is perhaps little surprise that she is looking forward to the prospect of a midfield battle against Keira Walsh, Georgia Stanway and Ella Toone. “I’ve always wanted to play against the best,” she says. “No one says ‘oh I never want to play against Messi’. Of course you want to play against Messi!
“I’m excited because I feel like it’s an opportunity for us to show the type of players we are and for me to show the type of player I am. Who better to do it against than the best players in the world?”
Etienne was still a freshman in college when she represented Haiti in an Olympic qualifier against the USA in January 2020. A challenging evening trying to get to grips with Rose Lavelle and Julie Ertz ended in a 4-0 defeat, going some way to making the reigning world champions one of Etienne’s favourites to win in Australia and New Zealand alongside England, France and Brazil. Whilst she wishes she could have done better that night, the mentality that separates professional athletes from mere mortals is displayed in how she reflects on the game.
“That was both a humbling experience and a learning experience for me,” she says. “I learned a lot about myself in that game. To this day, my dad makes me watch film from it. I know there are things that I saw in that game that I have completely improved on, and I’ve turned into a different player in those aspects. If I were to come up against them again in the future they would have a different story to tell.”
Although Haiti are currently ranked 53rd in the FIFA rankings, below Uzbekistan and Myanmar, and face an enormous challenge in taking on the world this summer, Etienne and her team-mates are keen to ensure that issues closer to home do not undermine them.
In 2020, Haitian Football Federation (FHF) president Yves Jean-Bart was banned for life by FIFA after an investigation by its ethics committee found that he had ‘abused his position and sexually harassed and abused various female players, including minors’. However, Jean-Bart contested the ban, and in February this year the Court of Arbitration for Sport annulled it, stating that the facts that attempted to prove cases of sexual abuse were ‘inconsistent, contradictory or even inaccurate’. FIFA have appealed the decision.
Jean-Bart announced his intention to return as president of the FHF after his ban was lifted, yet the normalization committee that FIFA put in place in the wake of his suspension suggested sanctions could be implemented if he was to come back. There is yet to be a definitive resolution with the World Cup now just a month from starting, yet Etienne does not want the issue to take away from what the team has achieved.
“I think we all understand that it is possible there will be lingering conversations about the situation,” she admits. “We are prepared for that if it does happen but that’s another reason why we want to be successful and play well because we don’t want anything to overshadow what we are doing.
“We understand what is going on, we talk about it, we deal with it, but when we step out on the field it’s about doing what we need to do and putting aside any negativity.”
It is noticeable how regularly Etienne appreciates the impact of others throughout the 40 or so minutes we spend talking. The impact of her father and brother on her career is never far from her mind and you get the sense that competing at a World Cup would not be quite the same honour if she was not able to share it with her team-mates and those who will be watching on in Haiti this summer.
“There are a lot of things happening in Haiti right now that aren’t positive, so to have a light shining on us, I think that is really necessary for the country,” she says. “People may be so engulfed in the football world that they will want to know what the team is doing and how well they are doing, so they are going to take a step back from whatever negativity is happening and focus on that. We know that we’re representing them.
“The idea of being in a World Cup does feel a little cartoonish,” she adds. “I feel like I’m in a movie. But we’re here for a reason and we didn’t put all of this work in and sacrifice for all of these years to now just fumble at the World Cup.”
Regardless of how the World Cup plays out for Haiti amid the challenges they face both on and off the field, it is clear that Etienne is ready for such an illustrious stage – just as she always has been.
