“I saw a lot of people I hadn’t seen in years, and I’m sure it was the same for a lot of people who went there,” Charles says. “I…saw the church pastor there with some members of the church. And I was like, ‘Wow, that’s awesome.’”

So when I walked into Harvard Stadium, I was greeted not by the usual ho-hum of Harvard students but rather by the pulsating singing and screaming and dancing and drum-banging of the Haitian fans.

Finally, after hours of tailgating and many more hours if not days of anticipation, the Haitian fans finally settled into their seats, and Harvard v. Haiti game began.

At some point, surrounded by Haitian fans, I began to feel myself cheering for the visitors. Heck, how could you not? This was a team that really shouldn’t have been there in the first place and very well could’ve ceased to exist after the earthquake. This was a nation whose GDP is less than half of Harvard’s endowment.

I’m not sure there is a bigger David.

At first, Haiti held the clear edge, thanks to superior ball-handling skills. But the team failed to find the back of the net. As the game went on, it became clear that neither side held the advantage. A stalemate reigned.

But despite the mediocre, rather unexciting soccer that developed, the enthusiasm of the more than 11,000 fans never waned. They cheered at every slick move by a Haitian player, jumped to their feet when a goal appeared in reach, and jeered when the referee gave out the yellow and red cards. These people were living and dying with this team, their team.

Eventually, the 90 minutes of regulation came to an unexciting 0-0 finish. The teams duked it out in penalty kicks, and Haiti finally pulled ahead, beating Harvard, 4-1. The fans, naturally, went berserk.

Even for those who didn’t witness the rather unexpected penalty kicks, regulation in itself was thrilling enough.

“It was crazy,” says Charles. “[A friend and I] also called our [friend] in Haiti…[and] both were screaming, telling him how much he missed for not being here.”

From here, the Haiti national team has big aspirations to say the least. According to the Boston Globe, the squad has one main goal: to qualify for the World Cup in 2014.

But at this point, the team has done more than enough.

Because like the nation, the team is still standing.

—Staff writer Robert S. Samuels can be reached at robertsamuels@college.harvard.edu.