HOUSTON (AP) — For 37 minutes Sunday, Curacao battled four-time champion Germany, daring the first-time World Cup team to believe it could accomplish the unimaginable.
In the 21st minute, Libano Conencia broke through traffic from the center of the box and scored with his left foot to tie the score and give Curaçao the lead. First goal of the tournament It sends Blue Wave fans into a frenzy.
However, Germany broke the 1-1 tie in the 38th minute and then overpowered the small Caribbean nation to escape. Toward a 7-1 victory in the group stage.
Curaçao coach: “This is nothing to be ashamed of” dick advocaat Said. “I think we can still be proud.”
It was an emotional day for 78-year-old Advocaat, who previously coached the Netherlands national team in 1994 and the South Korean national team in 2006 at the World Cup. He shed tears before the game as the team from a country of just 158,000 people made history by making their first appearance in the tournament.
“This is about the joy of the people of Curacao,” he said. “Maybe it’s an age thing, but at this time of year your emotions come to the surface. I don’t really like it…(but) the joy people have is amazing.”
He became the oldest person to coach a World Cup match and faced the youngest German national team coach Julian Nagelsmann, 38, at this year’s tournament.
Conencia’s goal gave Curaçao confidence early on and marked another milestone in the team’s historic run.
Winger Kenji Gore said: “This goal was really great for all of us and for the country.” “More history is in the making. To score the first ever goal on the world stage is just incredible and we’re all grateful to be here to experience it with everyone in the stadium.”
Coach Nagelsmann was impressed by Curacao’s fight and pointed out that underdogs can become dangerous when they get confident.
“The opponent played better than many expected in Germany,” he said. “They played with great courage.”
Curacao were proud of their ability to hang on against such a strong opponent as Germany for most of the first half, but the final score was also disappointing. According to Opta news agency, Curaçao had the largest goal difference in defeat for a first-time World Cup appearance since South Korea lost 9-0 to Hungary in 1954.
“There are mixed emotions, mixed emotions, and on the other hand you think, ‘Wow, I came to the World Cup and made history,'” Gore said. “On the other hand, you’re like, ‘Wow, I wish we could have gotten a few more points.'” But we’re playing against the best team in the world, and the best team in the world punishes you at every opportunity, and you see they punished us seven times for the mistakes we made. ”
Curaçao hopes the experience gained on Sunday will help them in Saturday’s tournament against Ecuador in Kansas City.
“There are still games left and the situation could still end differently,” Advocaat said.
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
