History for Curacao! After becoming the smallest nation to ever qualify for the World Cup, it only took them 21 minutes to score their first World Cup goal, a project more than 10 years in the making bearing fruit. Midfielder Livano Comenencia was able to pounce on a ball bouncing around the box, scoring his third goal for the island nation, but his biggest goal to date to bring them level 1-1 with Julian Nagelsmann’s Germany.
While it was a match that ended in a 7-1 loss to the Germans, nothing can be taken away from Curacao for going toe to toe with one of the world’s best for the first half before conceding a penalty where things began to get out of hand. Comenencia, a 22-year-old midfielder with FC Zurich, has ascended int a national hero; the team were already heroes on the island just for making it to this point. After getting a taste of scoring at the World Cup, the Blue Wave will want more, and if they can build on the first half against Germany, they’ll have chances to do just that.
Speaking after the match, Dick Advocaat didn’t want to focus on the occasion because he wants things to improve ahead of their next match against Ecuador, so the squad also can’t get hung up on this result.
“We’ll take this one match at a time. We had expected to be able to do more against Germany, but we couldn’t. They simply were too strong. Now, we conceded some very easy goals — three — against them, so normally speaking, 4-1 would’ve been the score, but in terms of the team, Germany was stronger than we were before the match,” Advocaat said.
Odds on favorites to be the lowest scoring team at the World Cup, they’ve already ensured that they’re leaving here with at least a goal to their name, but after dealing with the onslaught of the German attack, they’ll have Ecuador up next on June 20 in Kansas City.
How’d they get here?
The Concacaf side needed a 0-0 draw with Jamaica to top their qualifying group and get here, and they were rewarded with an opening-day fixture with global giants of the game, Germany. But when you’re a nation that has been defying odds for your entire existence, why sit back when you’ve already won just by making it ot the World Cup?
Advocaat, who has made history of his own by becoming the oldest manager in World Cup history at 78 as he leads his third nation to the tournament, had the Blue Wave set to attack Germany as 6,000 fans are on hand at NRG Stadium in Houston to cheer them on. But even the fact that he’s coaching the team is a feat, as he stepped down in November after seeing the side to the World Cup due to the health of his daughter, only to return ahead of the World Cup as Fred Rutten stepped down and there were calls for him to return.
Only one player, Tahith Chong, was born on the island, as dual-national recruitment of players born in the Netherlands has fueled this run, but that doesn’t mean that this is a team of mercenaries. There’s a mutual respect between the team and the people on the island, which forward Jurgen Locadia opened up about before the tournament.
“I feel like a member of the squad,” Locadia said. “I’m happy and grateful to represent Curacao. So I think the way we as a team show appreciation to the locals, I believe we are very humble, this team. We have conversations with the locals after the game, before the game, and when we have practice after practice, we take time for the locals. I think if we give them the respect, you’re gonna receive the respect back.”
Now being cheered on by their fans, they’re a team growing into it, and who knows what will happen if they keep this up. The job may not be done, but this is something that FFK president Gilberto Martina saw coming back in April.
“Germany, we should not lose it. That’s very important,” Martina said. “You know the bible story, David and Goliath? Four-time world champion, 82 million people versus 155,000, so against all odds, but I was happy at the draw in Washington on December 5th when I saw Germany, and I’ll tell you why, because the best game to play against Germany is the first game, because they’re a team who will get better as the World Cup goes on.”
Curacao may have fallen in this inaugural match, but they’ve still defied the odds. With Advocaat at the helm, they also have a manager who has been to multiple World Cups, so they’ll be prepared for what comes next.
