▲ Dick Advocaat, Head Coach of the Curacao National Football Team
Curacao, a small island nation with a population of approximately 150,000, faced a harsh debut at the FIFA World Cup, but head coach Dick Advocaat (Netherlands) defended his players, stating, "It is nothing to be ashamed of."
The Curacao national football team, led by Advocaat, suffered a 1-7 defeat against Germany in their first match of Group E at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America, held at Houston Stadium in Texas, USA, on June 15 (KST).
Curacao trailed 0-1 until the 21st minute of the first half when Rivano Comenencia scored an equalizer, but they subsequently endured a brutal initiation against Germany's formidable firepower.
Germany, known as the "Die Mannschaft," is a four-time World Cup champion.
In contrast, this match against Germany marked Curacao's first-ever game in World Cup history.
According to AFP, Advocaat said during the post-match press conference, "The value of the German national team's squad is around 850 million euros (approximately 1.485 trillion won), while our team is at the level of 25 million euros (approximately 43.7 billion won)," adding, "Losing like this against a team like that is by no means a shameful thing."
He noted that "Germany was simply too strong, and we conceded goals too easily," acknowledging that while they dreamed of an upset, it was not to be.
However, Advocaat, who was seen tearing up before the match began, emphasized, "Just reaching the World Cup finals is already a tremendous achievement," and added, "We must keep in mind that our job here is simply to show our best performance."
Advocaat took the helm of the Curacao national team in January 2024 and led them to qualify for the North and Central American World Cup finals.
He had stepped down from his position in February to focus on caring for his daughter, who was in poor health, but returned to the helm just three months later last month to stand on the World Cup stage with Curacao.
This tournament marks the third World Cup that Advocaat has participated in as a head coach.
Previously, Advocaat led the Netherlands to the quarterfinals of the 1994 USA World Cup and managed the South Korean national team at the 2006 Germany World Cup.
Curacao will now continue their group stage matches against Ecuador and Ivory Coast.
Advocaat, who set the record for the oldest head coach at a World Cup final at age 78, said that even if they fail to cause an upset in the remaining matches, "The fact that we participated in the world's biggest football tournament will be enough to be happy about."
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.