Veteran coach Dick Advocaat has described Curacao’s historic World Cup qualification as the “craziest thing” he has ever achieved in his long career.
The Caribbean island, home to just over 150,000 people and a self-governing part of the Netherlands, became the smallest country ever to qualify for a World Cup after drawing with Jamaica in Kingston on Tuesday.
The 78-year-old Advocaat, nicknamed “the Little General,” has coached eight different national teams, including leading the Netherlands to the semi-finals of Euro 2004 and the 1994 World Cup quarter-finals. Due to family commitments, he was not present at the qualifying match.
“After a performance like that, you’re tempted to say this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced, but that would short-change so many other moments,” Advocaat told Algemeen Dagblad in his first public reaction. “It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever achieved as a coach. This is so wonderful for the island and the players who came from far away.”
Advocaat watched the match on television from The Hague in the early hours of Wednesday. “I was completely finished after the match, much more so than when I’m standing on the pitch. You can set things up exactly the way you want, but you lose all your energy. This was such an important match,” he added.
He also praised the resilience of Curacao’s players, noting that Jamaica, under coach Steve McClaren, hit the post twice and the crossbar once during the game, with a decisive penalty sealing Curacao’s place in World Cup history.
With this achievement, Advocaat will become the oldest coach in World Cup finals history, cementing Curacao’s place on the global football stage.