New Curacao coach itching to get started as World Cup looms
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Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup 2026 - FIFA World Cup 2026 Draw - John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C., U.S. - December 5, 2025 Draw Assistant Wayne Gretzky draws Curacao during the draw Pool via REUTERS/Mandel Ngan
March 1 - Dutch coach Fred Rutten is honoured that he was recommended to take charge of tiny Curacao at the World Cup finals later this year and is itching to get the job started, he said on Sunday.
Rutten was named last month to take over from compatriot Dick Advocaat, who abruptly resigned as coach of the Caribbean island’s national team to spend more time with his ill daughter.
Advocaat, 78, had qualified Curacao for a first World Cup finals appearance and recommended the 63-year-old Rutten to take over for the tournament in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. in June, where Curacao are in Group E with Ecuador, Germany, and the Ivory Coast.
Rutten said the circumstances that led to his appointment were unpleasant, but he told a Dutch television football programme on Sunday he was itching to do the job.
"I would have preferred different circumstances. But I'm starting to get a little antsy. Actually, the Curacao football federation president asked Dick who the ideal candidate would be to take over from him, and Dick put me forward. I'm honoured by that," Rutten said.
The two coaches have a good relationship. "I never worked with him. But sometimes you meet someone, and you have a certain click and a certain feeling. It was just normal right away. He's a very nice man," Rutten added.
The two had extensive discussions on the job and the task ahead at the World Cup.
"I sat with Dick for a morning. We discussed all the ins and outs. We're going to follow the path that Dick has set. It would be very strange to throw away the success they've built there. Firstly, there's no time for that, and secondly, it's not smart," Rutten said.
He will fly to Curacao next week for his formal presentation as coach and later this month take the squad to Australia where they play a friendly against China in Sydney on March 27 and the Socceroos in Melbourne four days later.
Curacao, with a population of 156,000, is the smallest country to qualify for the World Cup and the team play their first match of the tournament against Germany in Houston on June 14.
The majority of their squad are Dutch-born and play at clubs in the Netherlands. The island nation is a self-governing entity within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. REUTERS
