WHEN Frantz Pierrot got to Houston he realised he had a problem.
Now he is ready to use the FAI Cup final as a successful launchpad for the next stage of his career.
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Frantz Pierrot wants to use the FAI Cup final as a launchpadCredit: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
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He is Drogheda’s top goalscorer this season with ten goalsCredit: Ben McShane/Sportsfile
Pierrot heads into the decider against Derry City as Drogheda United’s top scorer with ten league goals.
It was enough for him to achieve his secondary target of coming in the top five sharp-shooters in the Premier Division but he believes he could have finished top of the pile had a hamstring strain not struck when he was on a streak of five in five.
But he acknowledges it is team goals which really matter, with Sunday’s showpiece followed by a play-off against Bray Wanderers six days later to preserve their top-flight status.
After that, who knows?
Confirming he had not held discussions with the club about an extension, Pierrot said: “I’m just here for one year. I think the main focus is the final, staying in the league and then we see what happens.”
Shining in the biggest game in his career would be a help as he looks to catch up on his big brother Frantzdy, who has 32 caps for Haiti — compared to his one — and won the Israeli League with Maccabi Haifa before joining AEK Athens earlier this year. Their home country is usually in the headlines for the wrong reasons although the 25-year-old stresses the lawlessness and gang warfare in Port-au-Prince is a far cry from his childhood experience.
He said: “We had it all right. My dad had instilled a lot of values and discipline within us.
“It’s not very stable in Haiti, but all the things being said about it, it doesn’t really change who I am because I know myself and my people.”
That said, the rural upbringing did not provide a natural pathway to becoming a professional, with no organised football on offer.
He recalled: “I’m from the countryside, very much far from the capital and the city.
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“It would not have been possible for me to make it out of there had I not come to America.
“We were just playing, having fun. There’s a lot of talented kids where I am from, but they just don’t have the option I had. That was just my father making it work for us.”
That involved a staggered family emigration with Frantz moving to Melrose, just outside Boston, aged 11. In hindsight, he believes having received no formal coaching until then has stood to him.
Sport — and his natural talent for soccer in particular — accelerated his integration and learning of English but some things took a lot of getting used to.
He said: “I never knew there was snow. I didn’t know it was a thing. When I came there was snow on the ground. I was like, ‘What is this?’
“And there are certain smells, sometimes I get it around the winter time, I can’t really explain it, it just reminds me of the time when I came to America.”
DYNAMIC RANGE
He tried basketball and track but mainly to keep fit in the soccer off-season and his interest in American football ended when he realised it would clash with his first love.
His form in college prompted him to be drafted by Houston Dynamo FC for the 2023 season.
But he said: “It didn’t go to plan. What they had in mind for me didn’t really align with what I had in mind.”
So he left and decided to try his luck with Athlone Town, for whom he scored 20 goals in 34 First Division games.
Joining Drogheda meant a higher standard of football with Pierrot not fazed by the poor facilities at Weavers Park.
He said: “The stadium is not very big but, whether it’s the Aviva, Tallaght, we’re still on a pitch with two nets where everything happens.
“There’s a bigger task, a bigger vision, and when you have this kind of mentality, you just accept it for what it is.”
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Publish date : 2024-11-06 11:00:00
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