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

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 crushing defeat against Germany in their first Group E match of the 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup, held at Houston Stadium in Texas, USA, on June 15.

Curacao briefly leveled the score at 1-1 in the 21st minute of the first half with a goal by Livano Comenencia, but they were subsequently overwhelmed by Germany's formidable firepower.

Germany, known as the "Tank Corps," is a four-time World Cup champion.

In contrast, this match against Germany marked Curacao's first-ever appearance in a World Cup match.

According to AFP, Advocaat said in the post-match press conference, "The market value of the German national 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 certainly nothing to be ashamed of."

He also noted 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 start of the match, emphasized, "Just reaching the World Cup finals is already a tremendous achievement," and added, "We must keep in mind that our only job here is 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 America 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 last month—three months later—to stand on the World Cup stage with Curacao.

This tournament marks the third World Cup in which Advocaat has participated as a head coach.

Previously, Advocaat led the Netherlands to the quarterfinals in the 1994 USA World Cup and managed the South Korean national team in 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 tournament 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.