It would have been really easy for Claire Constant to have just given up. Three months after helping Haiti qualify for their first FIFA Women’s World Cup™ in 2023, the young defender tore her ACL and missed the global finals. Out of contract, the Virginia native had to move back in with her parents and pay for her own physical therapist to return to fitness.
But she emerged stronger for it, and three years later, she is a key member of USL Super League side DC Power and a mainstay in Haiti's campaign to reach the . Les Grenadieres can punch their ticket with a victory against Mexico in the Concacaf W Championship quarter-finals in November, setting the stage for Constant to make a long-awaited World Cup debut.
Speaking with FIFA, Constant talked about Haiti’s performance in the first round of qualifying, what it’s like playing with superstar Melchie Dumornay and what kept her going during those darkest, post-injury days.
Claire Constant: I think we need to be a little bit more on the front foot. I think we let teams take control when we should have taken control, which didn't put us in an opportunity to dominate the games. Leading up to the games, we had really good training sessions. We were prepared, but I think when it came time to perform, we didn't seem to all be on the same page. I felt like we couldn't put the ball in the back of the net when we needed to at times, and also defensively, we made it easy for teams to come in, penetrate, and take control a little bit.
I’d say that it’s very clear that teams have adapted. For example, in our first game against Suriname, they knew to keep someone on Melchie at all times. They knew how to mark her, how to disrupt her, and you don't see that very often. Even when she's with her club, you don't see her get marked in the same way, so it's very clear that teams have tried to figure us out.
What she brings is irreplaceable. In the last Women's World Cup, if someone asked me who was the best player I've ever played with, I would have said Melchie. And years later, she still is. It's crazy because she's still so young. She always wants to be doing better. She's one of the top players in the world and she's also so kind and pure-hearted that you just want to be around her. I feel like you don't see that very often with these top players. She truly is one of a kind.
I think it's exciting. It could be good for us to just lock in on one game. I'm hoping that everyone can get amped up, especially because it is a team like Mexico. We won 3-0 the last time we played them and I'm sure they remember that. They’ve gotten some new players. They've changed and I know that they're going to be coming out strong.
There's a passion with this Haiti team. Where a lot of these girls come from, it takes a certain something. I was born in the US and I feel like I'm strong, but I've learned from these girls in a lot of ways. They have a strength that I don't possess because of where they grew up, where they came from and what it's taken for them to get to this point.
I think it would mean so much more just because I truly would have known how hard I worked to get back to that point. When we first qualified [for 2023], it was an amazing feeling and one of the top days of my life. But my soccer career at the time, I wasn't really pushing myself. I was kind of plateauing. It was probably going downhill, honestly. But tearing my ACL, I had to completely start from ground zero and learn how to really take care of my body, really push my body, push my mental strength. I know how hard I've worked for this now, so qualifying would be everything to me.
A big part was my family. I tore it in the last week of my club season and so a club didn’t sign me. I did all of my rehab at home with a private physical therapist. We were paying out of pocket for it. I had the support of my family. They showed up for me every day. I mean, I was 24 years old and I had to move back home. My parents had downsized their home. My sister had just moved out to college and I was supposed to be gone playing professional soccer. And so here I am back at home, and they were just incredible. In that time, I learned how to push my body in ways I didn't know possible. A lot of it came from inside of me. I just started taking each day as a challenge and tried to get one per cent better each day.
I don't want to jinx it! I think if we can beat Mexico and qualify, I think we can say we're entering that golden era. I think with someone like Melchie Dumormay, you have to put that gold over her name. There's no denying that, but I don't want to speak too soon. It's hard to say you're in that era when you're actually in it… But yeah, I hope so.
Photos courtesy of FHF; Concacaf
Sources: FIFA Official
