Mackendy Francois lost his left leg in the devastating Haiti earthquake in January, but not his love for playing soccer.

The 23-year-old Haitian has been playing since he was five years old. With a set of forearm crutches, the right fullback hit the field again to show off his skills Saturday at the Quail Run Sports Complex in Mesa.

Photos from the team's scrimmage

Francois is one of fifteen players on the Haiti National Amputee Soccer Team and one of three teammates who lost a limb in the earthquake.

The team represented Haiti for the first time in the Amputee World Cup held in Argentina last month. They lost every game. But even with only a month of training before the championship, supporters say they gave veteran teams like Russia a run for their money, holding the three-time champions to 7-0.

"They fared better than anyone anticipated they would," said Christopher Campasano, a managing partner of Phoenix Pro Soccer, who helped select the team in Haiti in early August. "Considering the fact that they were only together as a team for 30 days, they played fantastically."

For many on the team, it was the first time they had ever left their country, Campasano said. Now, they are traveling in Arizona and Texas to raise awareness about the challenges still facing Haiti since earthquake and to promote amputee soccer.

In Haiti, losing a limb has historically been seen as a kind of punishment for that person or their family for something they must have done wrong, said Fred Sorrells, President of the International Institute of SPORT, a non-profit organization that is sponsoring the team as part of its efforts to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. Sorrells hopes the team will help fight that stigma and act as a beacon of hope for other amputees.

"Hopefully, they will see the team and think, 'Maybe we have the wrong idea about this. Maybe we ought to reevaluate this kind of thing, and maybe we should think about hiring these guys,'" Sorrells said.

About 30 people came out to see the team practice on Saturday, including Evens Goracke, an 8-year-old Haitian orphan that was in the process of being adopted by a Gilbert family when the earthquake hit. Now a member of the Goracke family, his mother, Heather, said she thought it was important for Evens to see the team play.

"It's good for him to see good role models and good things coming from Haiti," she said.

On Monday, the team will play against the men's and women's soccer teams 1 p.m. at Mesa Community College near Southern Avenue and Dobson Road. To learn more about the Haiti National Amputee Soccer Team and how to help, visit www.iisport.org.