Garven-Micah Metusala calls himself a “beautiful mix”. He learned from Haitian, Congolese, Quebec and Canadian culture to forge his identity. However, for the next few weeks, there will only be one: that of Grenadier.
Metusala, a central defender, currently wears the colors of Haiti at the Gold Cup, the most prestigious continental competition. The one who grew up in Terrebonne realizes his dream of wearing the red and blue uniform.
“It’s a sense of pride, and then an honor, I would say. Ever since I was little, I had always wanted to represent either Haiti, on my mother’s side, or Congo, on my father’s side. My goal in life was to represent one of the two countries if I had the chance”, mentioned to La Presse on the phone the former member of the Montreal Impact Academy a few days before the start of the competition.
We can already say that it is mission accomplished. What’s more, by the way, he also made his mother quite proud.
“You are finally considered a true Haitian,” his mother told him now that he has his passport from the country. “She’s really happy because I’m representing her roots and mine too. »
Before committing to Haiti, the defender had no shortage of options. He could also decide to represent Congo or Canada, if ever he was selected by one of these countries. However, even before becoming a professional player with Forge FC in the Canadian Premier League, Metusala was courted.
While he was a member of the Fabrose soccer club, in the Quebec Premier Soccer League, assistant coach Angelo Jean-Baptiste made him a promise.
Jean-Baptiste, who now coaches the Haitian under-20 team, had a “big role” in Metusala’s picks. Especially when you take into consideration the opinion of some members of his bodyguard.
“Several people told me to wait,” he recalls. We don’t know if, in a few years, Canada could call on you.
“But for me, it was a no-brainer to be able to go with Haiti. It is a country that I love so much and that has a lot of problems at the moment. I know that the national team plays a big role in the country, so to have the chance to represent these people and give them smiles with victories, I immediately said to myself: I’m getting into it. »
Now he has both feet in it.
It remains that Metusala spent his life in Quebec, more precisely in the northern crown of Montreal. Despite everything, he assures that his integration into the national team was done without a hitch.
“I speak Creole, and then just speaking the language, honestly, it helped a lot. It made integration even easier,” he notes. In fact, he’s not even the only Montreal native in this edition; substitute goalkeeper Josué Duverger is also a member of the Quebec diaspora.
Obviously, his acclimatization is going pretty well since the 23-year-old played all 90 minutes of the Grenadiers’ first match on Sunday, in which he helped his team defeat Qatar 2-1.
Metusala and his compatriots, however, still have their work cut out for them in the group stage when they face two other nations ranked higher than them, namely Honduras and Mexico. Do they have another small miracle in them like in 2019, where Haiti were defeated in overtime by Mexico in the semi-finals?
To be continued.
For Metusala, the priority will naturally be to do well for the selection. However, if his performances can incidentally be beneficial to him on a personal level, he will not be outraged.
The Forge FC player has ambitions, and the Gold Cup could be the stepping stone needed to make the jump to a bigger league.
“I have aspirations to go to the next level, whether it’s MLS or Europe. I would really like to discover new championships. I know the Gold Cup can be a good springboard for that. I will make sure to give my 100% to open doors for me, because we know that there are a lot of people who watch these competitions. I hope it can do something,” he noted.
