For statistics, it was a friendly preparation for the FIFA U-17 World Cup. For Stephen “Kiki” Ramos, it meant so much more.
The Vélez Sarsfield forward made his debut this Tuesday, July 28, with the Argentine U-17 National Team in the 2-1 victory over Ecuador, a step that crowns a path marked by adversity, adoption and football.
Coach Diego Placente gave him minutes in the first of two friendlies against the Ecuadorian team, played at the Lanús stadium. With that income, Ramos officially began his journey with the albiceleste shirt after being called up for the first time last month.
From orphanage to a new life in Argentina
Stephen Ramos was born on April 3, 2009 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Due to the economic difficulties that his biological family was going through, he was given as a baby to an orphanage in the Haitian capital.
Months later, on January 12, 2010, an earthquake devastated Haiti and left one of the worst tragedies in the country’s history. Ramos remained in that orphanage while an Argentine family moved forward with the procedures to adopt him.
Shortly after the earthquake, he traveled to Buenos Aires along with three other children to start a new life with his adoptive family in the Villa Devoto neighborhood.
Although he was born in Haiti, he grew up in Argentina from the first months of his life. There he trained, studied and found in football a passion that would end up defining his future.
The road to the Albiceleste
“Kiki” started playing from a very young age and, at the age of six, he tried out in the lower divisions of Vélez Sarsfield. Since then he advanced category by category until he became one of the club’s main offensive promises.
During the season he scored 12 goals with the Fortín youth divisions, a performance that caught the attention of the coaching staff headed by Diego Placente.
His call-up to the Argentine U-17 National Team aroused interest in different media, which highlighted that Ramos is the first footballer born in Haiti to join an Argentine national team.
The forward also explained the origin of his nickname. Although many relate him to Kylian Mbappé, he said that he actually arose when he was little and constantly repeated the sound “here, here”, so his family began to call him “Kiki”.
A debut with an eye on the World Cup
The friendly against Ecuador represented Ramos’s first step with the albiceleste shirt. Argentina is preparing to compete in the FIFA U-17 World Cup, which will be held in Qatar between November and December, and the attacker will seek to consolidate himself within the squad led by Placente.
At just 17 years old, Stephen “Kiki” Ramos has already written a unique chapter in Argentine soccer. His debut with the U-17 National Team not only rewards his sporting growth, but also reflects the journey of a young man who found a home in Argentina and the opportunity to fulfill the dream of representing the country where he grew up.