Theus’ journey to the World Cup began at the Ranch.
The team’s base in Croix-des-Bouquets, one of Port-au-Prince’s poorest suburbs, is officially called the Fifa Goal Center, but everybody knows it as ‘the Ranch’.
Back in 2002, the first phase of the training complex opened, boasting an auditorium, administrative office and dormitories for players.
Today, up to 200 boys and girls aged 14 and above live, train and go to school at the former country mansion.
Theus arrived there in 2013, at the age of 14.
Initially, it was her sister who was spotted and she tagged along because it was easier than separating them.
“There was no goalkeeper in my age group,” she says. “I didn’t want to play in goal but I learned the mechanics – how to hold the ball, knowing when to dive, how to dive, things like that.
“It was completely different to playing on the streets. We trained every day, twice a day, no matter what.
“We had practice matches with the boys’ team, it made us stronger and faster.”
The players at the Ranch grew up together. In recent months, emotionally, they have drawn ever closer.
In November 2020, Yves Jean-Bart, the president of the Haitian Football Federation, was handed a lifetime ban by Fifa for alleged harassment and sexual abuse of multiple underage female footballers at the Ranch and elsewhere.
Fifa’s investigation concluded, external he “threatened and prevented potential victims and witnesses from giving testimony” and “exercised an authoritarian regime”.
Photographs from 2021, external were also followed by allegations that children at the Ranch were living in unhygienic and unsafe conditions.
However, in February, Jean-Bart’s suspension was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport , externalwho found the evidence against him was “inconsistent, unclear and contradictory”.
The 75-year-old has strongly denied the allegations since they were first made. Fifa filed a rare complaint against Cas’ ruling, but that was overturned by the Swiss federal court in June., external
None of the three players interviewed for this piece wanted to speak directly about the claims but all mentioned the squad’s unity in the face of adversity.
“We can’t control what happened but we understand we can control our reaction to it,” says midfielder Danielle Etienne.
“We’re not shaken by this, we’re choosing not to linger on the past or negativity,” adds right-back Chelsea Surpris, who spoke to BBC World Service in February.
Theus concludes: “We’re tight-knit, most of the team think the same.
“Hey, we’re here to show off our talent, show off our skills. Let’s let that do the talking.”