Violette AC stunned the world (or at least the North American soccer-watching contingent of it) by beating MLS side Austin F.C. 3-0 in CONCACAF champions league action. Violette had not played a competitive match since winning the Caribbean Championship in May 2022. Civil unrest in Haiti has meant that their league cannot continue and this game had to be played in the Dominican Republic. It’s likely that much of Violette’s team will not be able to travel for the second leg due to the US government not granting them Visas. Who knows how this tie will be decided but for one night Violette turned in a performance that the streets won’t forget.
Ratings:
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be a strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, rewatch
- D – Below average in this match
Miche-Naider Chéry
- Nationality: Haitian
- Age: 25
- Date of Birth: 13/11/1997
- Current club: Violette AC
- Career: Aigle Noir
- Position: Striker
- Preferred foot: Right
Normally a 25-year-old striker still playing in Haiti would not be of much interest to me. But Chéry turned in such an incredible performance I simply could not ignore him. If you ever played with Lacina Traore on FIFA back in the day you already have some idea of what Chery looked like. He is really big and strong. I don’t know his exact height but he was distinctly taller than 6’2 Amro Tarek. He was totally dominant inside the penalty box, scoring two powerful headers and causing an own goal with a third.
Austin really had no answer for him. His movement in the box was decent but even if his markers were able to keep up with him he was more than capable of out-jumping them for the ball. Chéry’s build-up play was a little inconsistent but effective overall. His size obviously helps him to shield the ball effectively but he also has some skill with the ball at his feet. He showed that he does have the ability to dribble through traffic and retain the ball. He also was able to play a few passes to switch the direction of Violette’s attack. His first touch was decent, though a little inconsistent. There were a couple of times when the ball squirted away from him under pressure but considering he hadn’t played a competitive game since May 2022 he did pretty well. Chéry was very willing to track back, though he did almost get himself in trouble with a couple of reckless tackles.
Rating – A1
Due to civil unrest, the Haitian league isn’t really happening at the moment. It was also pretty hard to watch at the best of times. This means I have absolutely no context against which to assess this performance. I don’t even know how possible it is to sign a player from Haiti right now given how hard it has been for this team to get Visas. But this performance by Chéry deserved nothing less than an A1 rating. I think he could easily play in CPL or USL if this performance is typical.
Fernando Ciceron
- Nationality: Haitian
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 26/12/2003
- Current club: Violette AC
- Position: Centre-Back
- Preferred Foot: Left
Fernando Ciceron played as a centre-back for Violette in this match. He performed quite well but showed some limitations on the ball. Ciceron was very well positioned defensively in this game, rarely having to make difficult defensive plays. No doubt he was helped by Austin’s poor attacking play overall but his positioning was key.
Early on in the match he did a great job of tracking a runner and clearing the ball with a diving header that prevented a sure goal. He made a lot of headed clearances and handled the few times he faced a dribbler well. Ciceron is left-footed, which definitely adds to his appeal. His first touch is very good and he looked quite comfortable carrying the ball out of defence. He was able to step around players a couple of times to relieve pressure. But when he was passing under pressure things went a little bit off the rails. He was not able to do anything other than launch it into the channel when he was under pressure. His dribbling helped him sometimes but it isn’t really feasible for a centre-back to dribble out of trouble every single time. So there were a lot of times when he was just whacking the ball away and Austin got another chance to attack. This profile would probably be a lot more viable if Ciceron was a giant. But he is only around 6’0 and fairly slender. So I’m not quite sure he has the physical profile to pull off the human cinder block with limited feet thing at the highest level of football.
Rating – A2
Ciceron is a strong defender but his lack of passing ability and middling physical profile hold him back. Still, he’s only 19 and has lots of time to improve. He would be an interesting project for teams in USL, CPL, or equivalent leagues. Though all the stuff about visa difficulties and the situation in Haiti that I said about Chéry also applies to him obviously.
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