Overview:
Striker Stanley Joseph is usually a Real Hope Football Academy bench player but rose to the occasion when his head coach called on his number to start in the Concacaf Caribbean Cup. Joseph netted the winning goal of Real Hope’s 1-0 victory over Moca Football Club in the first leg of the third-place game.
MARYLAND — Exactly six months after unexpectedly scoring the penalty kick granting Real Hope Football Academy the Haitian League trophy this past season, bench player Stanley Joseph, 25, added another crucial goal to his account on Tuesday night in a much-anticipated encounter against Moca Football Club in the Caribbean Cup.
A winger scored the game-winning goal for Real Hope, a 1-0 victory over the Dominican club in the first leg of the third-place match of the Concacaf Caribbean Cup at Cibao Stadium in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. The third-seeded team will qualify for the Concacaf Champions Cup, making the two-leg game series ever so important.
Joseph, usually a substitute, scored the winner just eight minutes into his first-ever start in the Caribbean Cup. The Hinche native wanted to take full advantage of his coach’s trust and did just that.
“When the coach told me he was going to start me, I was more motivated because I don’t start often,” Joseph said after the game.
“He saw an advantage in me, and I didn’t want to disappoint him. I gave myself the objective to score, and I really did score,” rejoiced the winger.
One of Real Hope’s strengths in the Caribbean Cup has been the team’s depth. The club is filled with talented players in all positions and head coach Harry Louis has done a spectacular job in rotating the players as needed. Louis does not have a fixed starting line-up. He made three changes from his last starting line-up in the Caribbean Cup before the Tuesday night game. The most influential change was of course starting Joseph at center forward even though he’s a winger.
“In Real [Real Hope], you can start a game, and then the next game, you don’t because all of the players can play,” Joseph said.
Goals were desperately needed
Coach Louis told Joseph he was going to start the night before the match during a team talk. Real Hope needed goals after going scoreless in their previous game against another Dominican side, Cibao Football Club.
The team lost 1-0 even though they moved the ball well. They needed a player who was hungry for goals. The club does not have a pure Number 9 forward. Joseph himself is a winger but was asked to fill the Number 9 position.
The morning of the game, Coach Louis told the strikers that they were supposed to lead the team to victory since they are the strikers.
Just eight minutes into the game, Joseph positioned himself at the right place in the middle of the box, kept his eyes on the ball, followed its trajectory and slotted a shot into the bottom right corner of the net. The 25-year-old then celebrated by doing a cartwheel and screaming at the top of his lungs.
“I want to score even more. For people to remember your name, you have to score.”
Stanley Joseph, Real Hope Football Academy’s Academy winger
It was a similar feeling when Joseph scored the winning penalty kick for Real Hope in a nerve-wracking penalty shootout in the Haitian League’s final against northern rivals Ouanaminthe Football Club 2011 in May. Joseph has only been with the team for a year, isn’t a starter, and scored two of the club’s most important goals this year.
“I want to score even more,” Joseph said. “For people to remember your name, you have to score.”
Joseph’s teammates were delighted to see his name on the scoresheet particularly because he has not been playing a lot of minutes in the Caribbean Cup.
“I’m really happy for him; he’s one of our teammates that I always encourage because he did not score often in the Haitian League, but the coach still believes in him,” winger Rapha Intervil said. “I’m very happy when a man scores when he hasn’t been doing so often, which will boost his confidence.”
10-man Real Hope held on 1-0 lead despite a first-half red card
It appeared as if Real Hope would not hold on to the lead Joseph gave them since midfielder Steeve Mondestin received a red card in the 46th minute. Mondestin was ejected for hitting an opposing player in the face.
Real Hope also received a red card in the first leg of the semifinals against Cibao on Oct. 23. Haitian players have often been reckless in international tournaments for years, negatively impacting their team’s performances.
But on Tuesday night, Real Hope did not pay much for losing a player. The team played the remaining game as if it still had 11 players on the field.
The players were well-positioned, did not sit back, and made various offensive bursts to the opposing net. However, Real Hope could not add to its lead. Nevertheless, the players were pleased with the result because it drew them closer to a spot in the next Summer Concacaf Champions Cup.
The two teams will meet again for the second leg on Dec. 3. At 4:30 p.m. ET. This time, Moca will play in front of its fans at the Estadio Polideportivo in Moca, Dominican Republic. But Real Hope players won’t back down. A tie will be enough to see the Haitian club secure third place in the Caribbean Cup and a spot in the Concacaf elite competition.
“As we’ve been doing, we’re going to look at this game as if it were the last game of our lives,” Joseph said. “We already have the advantage so we’re going to keep our mentality high.”
