# Emmanuel Sanon

Emmanuel "Manno" Sanon (25 June 1951 – 21 February 2008) was a Haitian professional footballer who played as a striker. He starred in the Haiti national team winning the 1973 CONCACAF Championship. Haiti qualified for the finals of the 1974 FIFA World Cup. Though they lost all three matches Sanon scored twice in the tournament. His goal against Italy when he ran onto a pass from Philippe Vorbe was the first conceded by Italian keeper Dino Zoff in 1,142 minutes of football.
Sanon won his home national championship in 1971 with top-level Don Bosco. He then won the Belgian Cup in the Belgian Pro League in 1979 with the K. Beerschot V.A.C.
Sanon is among the "Les 100 Héros de la Coupe du Monde" (100 Heroes of the World Cup), which included the top 100 World Cup Players from 1930 to 1990, a list drawn up in 1994 by the France Football magazine based exclusively on their performances at World Cup level.

## Early life

Sanon attended the Lycée de Pétion-Ville Secondary School.

## Club career

Sanon spent four season with his home club Don Bosco, where he won the national championship in 1971. He then spent six seasons for the K. Beerschot V.A.C., where he won the Belgian Cup in 1979 with a decisive assist to Johan Coninx for the only goal scored. He would finish his tenure in the Belgian Pro League, with 142 matches and 43 goals.
In 1980, Sanon signed with the Miami Americans of the second division American Soccer League. When head coach Ron Newman left the team on 20 June 1980 to become the head coach of the San Diego Sockers of the first division North American Soccer League, he induced Sanon to also move to the Sockers. Sanon spent three seasons with the Sockers until he suffered a career ending knee injury.

## International career

Sanon earned 65 caps and 37 goals for the Haiti national football team.

### 1974 FIFA World Cup

Having qualified by first knocking out Puerto Rico in a play-off, then topping the final group in the capital Port-au-Prince, Haiti was drawn into a very difficult group featuring two-time champions Italy, future champions Argentina, and Poland, who managed third place in the tournament. While they predictably finished last in the group with three losses and a -12 goal difference, Emmanuel Sanon scored both goals for the country in the tournament. He scored against Argentina in the last game of the group, but by far the most famous goal occurred against Italy. The Azzurri had not let in a goal in 19 games prior to the World Cup, thanks to goalkeeper Dino Zoff. In the opening of the second half, Sanon shocked the Italians with the opening goal. However this lead did not hold and Italy went on to win 3–1. By the time Haiti was tossed from the tournament after losing 7–0 to Poland and 4–1 to Argentina, Sanon had nonetheless cemented his place in footballing history.

## Coaching career

Sanon coached the Haiti national team for a year from 1999 to 2000, during which he led his team to the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

## Death

On 21 February 2008, Emmanuel Sanon died in Orlando, Florida, of pancreatic cancer, aged 56. The Haitian Legislature voted to award a perpetual exempted pension to his family posthumously as an honorific gesture for scoring the goals in Haiti's 1974 FIFA World Cup participation.

## Career statistics

This list is not completed yet
    Scores and results list Haiti's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sanon goal.
List of international goals scored by Emmanuel Sanon :
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 14 April 1970 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Bermuda | | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 31 October 1971 | Stade Louis Achille, Fort-de-France, Martinique | Martinique | | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 3 | 28 November 1971 | Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago | Trinidad and Tobago | | 6–1 | 1971 CONCACAF Championship |
| 4 | 1 December 1971 | Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago | Honduras | | 3–1 | 1971 CONCACAF Championship |
| 5 | 13 February 1972 | Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis | Guadeloupe | | 4–4 | Friendly |
| 6 | 15 April 1972 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Puerto Rico | | 7–0 | 1973 CONCACAF Championship qualification |
| 7 | 15 April 1972 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Puerto Rico | | 7–0 | 1973 CONCACAF Championship qualification |
| 8 | 15 April 1972 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Puerto Rico | | 7–0 | 1973 CONCACAF Championship qualification |
| 9 | 23 April 1972 | San Juan, Puerto Rico | Puerto Rico | | 5–0 | 1973 CONCACAF Championship qualification |
| 10 | 23 April 1972 | San Juan, Puerto Rico | Puerto Rico | | 5–0 | 1973 CONCACAF Championship qualification |
| 11 | 23 April 1972 | San Juan, Puerto Rico | Puerto Rico | | 5–0 | 1973 CONCACAF Championship qualification |
| 12 | 14 December 1972 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Netherlands Antilles | 1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 13 | 14 December 1972 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Netherlands Antilles | 2–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 14 | 14 December 1972 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Netherlands Antilles | 3–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 15 | 17 December 1972 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Netherlands Antilles | | 4–1 | Friendly |
| 16 | 30 January 1973 | Bourda, Georgetown, Guyana | Guyana | | 3–1 | Friendly |
| 17 | 6 February 1973 | Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados | Barbados | | 2–3 | Friendly |
| 18 | 8 February 1973 | Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago | Trinidad and Tobago | | 4–2 | Friendly |
| 19 | 5 November 1973 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | United States | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 20 | 10 November 1973 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Canada | | 5–1 | Friendly |
| 21 | 10 November 1973 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Canada | | 5–1 | Friendly |
| 22 | 10 November 1973 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Canada | | 5–1 | Friendly |
| 23 | 1 December 1973 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Netherlands Antilles | | 3–0 | 1973 CONCACAF Championship |
| 24 | 1 December 1973 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Netherlands Antilles | | 3–0 | 1973 CONCACAF Championship |
| 25 | 4 December 1973 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Trinidad and Tobago | | 2–1 | 1973 CONCACAF Championship |
| 26 | 13 December 1973 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Guatemala | | 2–1 | 1973 CONCACAF Championship |
| 27 | 13 December 1973 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Guatemala | | 2–1 | 1973 CONCACAF Championship |
| 28 | 13 November 1974 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Poland | | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 29 | 15 June 1974 | Olympic Stadium, Munich, West Germany | Italy | | 1–3 | 1974 FIFA World Cup |
| 30 | 23 June 1974 | Olympic Stadium, Munich, West Germany | Argentina | | 1–4 | 1974 FIFA World Cup |
| 31 | 30 July 1976 | National Stadium, Oranjestad, Netherlands Antilles | Netherlands Antilles | | 2–1 | 1977 CONCACAF Championship qualification |
| 32 | 30 July 1976 | National Stadium, Oranjestad, Netherlands Antilles | Netherlands Antilles | | 2–1 | 1977 CONCACAF Championship qualification |
| 33 | 14 August 1976 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Netherlands Antilles | | 7–0 | 1977 CONCACAF Championship qualification |
| 34 | 14 August 1976 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Netherlands Antilles | | 7–0 | 1977 CONCACAF Championship qualification |
| 35 | 28 November 1976 | Estadio Pedro Marrero, Havana, Cuba | Cuba | | 1–1 | 1977 CONCACAF Championship qualification |
| 36 | 11 December 1976 | Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Cuba | | 1–1 | 1977 CONCACAF Championship qualification |
| 37 | 16 October 1977 | Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico | El Salvador | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1977 CONCACAF Championship |

## Honours

Don Bosco
* Ligue Haïtienne: 1971
Beerschot
* Belgian Cup: 1978–79
* Belgian Super Cup runner-up: 1979
San Diego Sockers
* NASL Indoor season: 1981–82
Haiti
* CONCACAF Championship: 1973; runner-up 1971, 1977
Individual
* RSSSF CONCACAF Championship Team of The Tournament: 1971
* France Football: FIFA World Cup Top-100 1930–1990
* Haitian Athlete of the Century (1999)
Orders
* National Order of Honour and Merit: Commander (2007)