Curaçao Coach Advocaat: "1.4 Trillion Won vs. 43.7 Billion Won Squad Value... Nothing to Be Ashamed Of"

Curaçao, a small island nation with a population of about 150,000, faced a harsh debut at the FIFA World Cup, but head coach Dick Advocaat (Netherlands) defended his players, stating, "There is nothing to be ashamed of."

The Curaçao 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).

Curaçao trailed 0-1 before Rivano Comenencia scored an equalizer in the 21st minute of the first half, but they were subsequently overwhelmed by Germany's formidable firepower in a brutal initiation to the tournament.

The "German Tank" is a four-time World Cup champion.

In contrast, this match against Germany marked Curaçao's first-ever game in World Cup history.

According to AFP, Advocaat said in the post-match press conference, "The value of the German team is 850 million euros (approximately 1.485 trillion won), while our team is around 25 million euros (approximately 43.7 billion won)," adding, "Losing like this against such a team is by no means a shameful thing."

He remarked that "Germany was simply too strong, and we conceded too many goals too easily," acknowledging that while they had dreamed of an upset, it was not to be.

However, Advocaat, who was seen tearing up before the match, emphasized, "Just reaching the World Cup finals is already a tremendous achievement," and added, "We must keep in mind that all we need to do here is show our best performance."

Advocaat took the helm of the Curaçao national team in January 2024 and led them to qualify for the North and Central American World Cup finals.

He had stepped down from the position in February to focus on caring for his daughter, who was in poor health, but returned to the helm last month—three months later—to stand on the World Cup stage with Curaçao.

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.

Curaçao 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 cannot pull off an upset in the remaining matches, "The fact that we participated in the world's biggest football tournament is enough to be happy about."

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.