HARRISON, N.J. — Derrick Etienne Sr. calls them “destiny decisions,” those fork-in-the-road and life-altering opportunities.

There have been many for his son, Derrick Etienne Jr., from leaving the comfort of the Livingston Lions youth team to join the New York Red Bulls academy at age 11. To staying in the Red Bulls system instead of joining Giovanni Savarese at the New York Cosmos. And to accepting the invite from Haiti's U-17 national team instead of waiting for a call that never came from the United States.

Now, Derrick Etienne Jr. will be represent Haiti at Red Bull Arena Monday night (9 pm ET | FS1, UniMás, UDN), hoping to lead Les Grenadiers over Costa Rica and atop Group B of the Concacaf Gold Cup.

“The road to destiny is leading back to Harrison on Monday,” the elder Etienne said. “Hopefully all the stars are lining up the right way and it would be great for him to get a goal right there on that field.”

Derrick Etienne Jr. poses with his father | Courtesy of Etienne family

Some of the biggest moments of Derrick Etienne Jr.’s life have played out at Red Bull Arena — the opening goal in the 2016 USL championship game, a goal in the New York Derby and the winning tally to help the Red Bulls clinch the 2018 Supporters’ Shield title, their third.

His parents were in the stands for all of those, and they’ll be there again Monday, joined by another 40 or so family members, all rocking the Haiti blue.

The Etiennes roll deep.

“This place is very close to my heart,” Derrick Jr. said. “For me to play in front of family, in front of friends, in such an important game to hopefully solidify the group and just to be able to represent the national team at home is a moment I'm going to remember forever.”

Playing for Haiti is special for Derrick Jr. It’s a county where his grandfather played professionally and was on the national team trajectory before sacrificing for his family. At 18, Fritz Etienne left Haiti and immigrated to America with $19 in his pocket.

Another “destiny decision.”

HAITI MAKE IT ✌️



Derrick Etienne's shot deflects off of Rosas and doubles Haitis lead! pic.twitter.com/DvXODCDBJ9 — FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 20, 2019

Derrick Sr. and his twin brother, Darrell, each played for Haiti. Both missed the cut for the 2000 Gold Cup, but joined the team for subsequent World Cup qualifiers. Derrick Sr. was capped eight times, scoring once in a friendly against El Salvador at Foxboro Stadium.

Now the next generation of Etiennes feature for Haiti. In addition to Derrick Jr., younger sister, Danielle, competed for Haiti at the U-20 World Cup in France and cousin, Omre Etienne, will represent Haiti at the U-17 World Cup in Brazil.

“It means everything to our families that we continue to keep the dream alive,” Derrick Sr. said. "We're putting a smile on not just our family, but the 12 million Haitians that are in Haiti, and the several hundreds of thousands that are all over the world. It means everything to us. To wear that red and blue is a badge of honor. We don't take it lightly. We're just glad to see our kids are following the same passion to play for Haiti.”

Playing for Haiti, though, wasn’t a given for Derrick Jr. He earned a pair of call-ups to US U-14 camps, but no other invites materialized.

Derrick Jr. processed the snub. Was he to wait and hope for a US call, or accept an invite into Haiti’s U-17 camp? Even at that young age, he knew what suited him best.