“The Blue Wave” is welcomed back on the island
Players entering the bus
WILLEMSTAD—Up to Friday Curaçao remained uncertain whether striker Jürgen Locadia will be available for the national team's historic FIFA World Cup opener against Germany, as “Federashon di Futbol Korsou” (FFK) continued discussions with FIFA regarding a red card he received in a recent friendly. Coach Dick Advocaat confirmed last Thursday that no final decision has yet been made by world football's governing body.
Locadia was shown a straight red card during Curaçao's warm-up match in and against Scotland (1-4). According to Advocaat, it was still unclear how FIFA would assess the incident and whether it will result in a suspension.
“The federation is working on it together with FIFA. We hope to get clarity soon. They are handling it, but we cannot make the decision ourselves,” Advocaat said during a press conference at Corendon Resort.
The veteran Dutch coach expressed hope that any punishment would be limited.
“With referees these days, you never know how things are written up. They can make it very seri-ous. We don't know how FIFA will deal with it. We have to wait and see, but it would be a great shame to lose a player like him,” he said.
The 78-year-old pointed to the example of Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, who received a red card last year but ultimately avoided a suspension that would have prevented him from representing his national team.
The coach believes the red card against Scotland played a decisive role in Curaçao's defeat. “If it had remained eleven against eleven, we probably wouldn't have lost. Playing with ten men hurt us,” he said.
“I thought we played very well in the first half,” he said. “That changed after the red card. We are not the Dutch national team. When we go down to ten men, it becomes very difficult, and that’s ex-actly what happened.”
Advocaat also stressed that his squad is physically prepared for the tournament. “That has been tested and everything went well, including with players who did not play. We are ready.”
Curaçao will begin its World Cup campaign against Germany before facing Ecuador and Ivory Coast in the group stage. While acknowledging that his team enters the tournament as the underdog, Ad-vocaat insisted that Curaçao should not be underestimated.
“By qualifying, we already achieved what many thought was impossible. Everything we accomplish from here is a bonus. We can make things difficult for anyone. Don’t write us off. If everyone has a good day, we can surprise an opponent and maybe score a goal,” he said.
According to the coach, football's biggest nations are not guaranteed victory simply because they have stronger squads. “Those teams are obviously better than us, but that doesn’t mean they auto-matically win. We just have to maintain our level for the full ninety minutes. Our goal is to advance to the next round.”
International Tahith Chong, who scored the opening goal against Scotland, also spoke ahead of the tournament and sought to put expectations into perspective despite the growing World Cup excite-ment on the island. Although Curaçao has been swept up in what many are calling "Blue Wave Fever," Chong said he does not feel additional pressure. “A single mother with five children who doesn’t know where the next money is coming from—that’s pressure,” he added.
Advocaat, meanwhile, spoke warmly about the support the team has received from the people of Curaçao. “It feels like coming home here. I love the positivity of the people. Many of them have diffi-cult personal situations and often have to struggle to make ends meet, yet they are incredibly proud of us. We can see how much this means to them.”
The coach expects the full magnitude of Curaçao's World Cup participation to become even more apparent once the squad leaves the island. “Then we will really start to feel it. That’s when it will truly come alive,” he said.
Earlier this year, Curaçao had already suffered defeats against Australia (5-1) and China (2-0). De-spite the last result against Scotand, Advocaat said he was encouraged by his team's performance for much of the match that marked his first game back in charge of the national team.
In February, Advocaat stepped down after his daughter became seriously ill. Former Dutch interna-tional Fred Rutten was appointed as his successor, but later departed after players and key sponsors launched a campaign urging Advocaat to return.
