Goalkeeper Kerly Theus, who is only 1.62 m tall, was eleven years old when a devastating earthquake struck Haiti in 2010, killing over 200,000 people and leaving 1.5 million homeless.

Theus, who was then living in the capital Port-au-Prince, was one of those forced to live in a tent while a few months later a cholera epidemic killed about 10,000 people.

“Everyone lost their homes, we had to live in tents for several months,” she said in a recent interview with BBC Sport.

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“I was lucky that no one in my immediate family died. But I remember losing friends from the neighborhood with whom I played football on the street.

“I miss those moments. It was a traumatic time at my age. That’s the way it is. I don’t really talk about it much.”

On Saturday, Theus, who never intended to be a goalkeeper, delivered a superb performance as goalkeeper at the Women’s World Cup, saving ten shots as England claimed a narrow 1-0 victory over underdogs Haiti, who are ranked outside the top 50 in the FIFA rankings.

Georgia Stanway’s penalty save in the first half was enough for England to win against the World Cup debutants in their opening Group D match at Brisbane Stadium.

Theus brilliantly denied Stanway’s first shot, diving to her right before being accused of coming off the line too early.

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There was a fleeting moment of joy as Theus’ teammates surrounded her at the right post before the video referee intervened and the penalty was retaken.

The Lionesses, the European champions, dominated the second half but were either stopped by Theus – who jumped high to tip an Alessia Russo header over the bar – or let down by their own finishing.

Haiti came close to equalising on more than one occasion. Late in the second half, England goalkeeper Mary Earps had a last-gasp chance but her outstretched foot saved her.

Haiti secured its place at the Women’s World Cup in February with a memorable play-off victory against favorites Chile.

Their performance against England, underpinned by the efforts of 24-year-old Theus, has now given the Caribbean country additional confidence that it can reach the knockout stages of the tournament co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

Theus said before the tournament: “I’ve been to tournaments where people said: ‘Haiti? What is that?’ We want the world to know about Haiti and our talent.”

England coach Sarina Wiegman said after the first three points in Brisbane: “Haiti deserves huge praise for their first World Cup appearance and for a performance like this.”

“I think the other two countries (in the group, Denmark and China) will really struggle with them, but of course that’s not our problem. I’m just really happy that we won.”

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