February 24 – Dutch veteran manager Dick Advocaat has stepped down as the head coach of Curaçao ahead of their debut appearance at the FIFA World Cup this summer, citing his daughter’s health.
At the age of 78, Advocaat was set to become the oldest manager in history to coach a team at the global finals, but he will no longer lead out Curaçao this summer in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
“I’ve always said that family comes before football,” said Advocaat in a statement issued by Curacao’s Football Association. “This is therefore a natural decision. But that doesn’t change the fact that I will miss Curaçao, the people there, and my colleagues very much.”
“I consider qualifying the smallest country in the world for the World Cup one of the highlights of my career,” he added. “I’m proud of my players, staff, and the board members who believed in us.”
Fred Rutten has taken over from Advocaat, who managed the Netherlands at the 1994 World Cup and South Korea at the 2006 World Cup. He previously managed FC Twente, PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord and Schalke 04.
Rutten will oversee Curaçao’s first participation in the World Cup. They are the smallest nation by population to qualify for the tournament. Iceland had previously held that record, participating in the 2018 World Cup with a population of just over 350,000.
Curaçao has a population of 156,000 and is an autonomous territory of the Netherlands. The team draws on players with ties to the European country.
Curaçao will play Germany, Ecuador and Ivory Coast in Group E at the FIFA World Cup.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at [email protected]