Curaçao's coach urges calm as smallest-ever World Cup nation faces Germany

Dick Advocaat urged his Curaçao players to stay calm and play without fear as the smallest nation ever to appear at a FIFA World Cup prepares to face four-time champions Germany in Houston on Sunday. The island of 150,000 people makes its historic debut against a German side appearing at the tournament for the 21st time.

“Just be yourself, and don’t be nervous,” defender Shurandy Sambo recalled Advocaat telling the squad just before they left their Florida base camp for Houston. “Of course everybody is excited, but just be yourself, show yourself, because this is the biggest stage.”

Curaçao’s players have approached the occasion with a mixture of pride and professional preparation. Sambo confirmed the squad has studied their opponents closely. “We’ve watched a lot of clips of Germany — how they play, what they can do,” he said.

Despite the weight of the occasion, midfielder Ar’jany Martha was clear that participation alone is not the goal. “We are not here to just be here,” he said. “We want to show ourselves and get good results.”

The squad’s tight-knit spirit has been a defining feature of their camp. Defender Livano Comenencia described the group as “one big family,” adding: “If you see us on the bus or outside the bus, in the hotel, we are always with music, always happy. Everybody is around each other.”

Curaçao’s path to the World Cup is a remarkable story in itself. Due to the island’s constitutional ties to the Netherlands, it is not recognised as an independent nation at the Olympics, and its professional baseball players — of whom there are many relative to the population — represent the Netherlands at the World Baseball Classic rather than Curaçao. Sunday’s match represents a rare moment when the island competes under its own flag on an international stage of this magnitude.

Family support will be present in force. Sambo confirmed his own relatives will be in the stands in Houston, along with the families of 21 other squad members — a travelling contingent that reflects just how much this moment means to the people of Curaçao.