Curaçao ends the first World Cup in history with pride and aims for evolution

Curaçao's first participation in a World Cup ended this Thursday, but coach Dick Advocaat left the tournament impressed with the team's performance and asked the country to continue investing in the search for new players.

With a population of just over 150 thousand inhabitants, Curaçao became the smallest country in history to compete in a World Cup. After a difficult debut, with a 7-1 defeat to Germany, the Caribbean team reacted and showed competitiveness by drawing 0-0 with Ecuador, before saying goodbye with a 2-0 defeat to Ivory Coast.

"I've experienced tournaments like this before, so I knew, in a way, what to expect," said the 78-year-old coach, who was in charge of his third World Cup. "But still, this team really exceeded expectations and evolved a lot."

"The way they played against world-class teams like Germany, Ecuador and Ivory Coast needs to be valued. They are elite teams. We need to take that into consideration. They played with a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of courage. That was really important."

"Now we need to take advantage of this to improve even more, trying to find more players willing to defend Curaçao."

The vast majority of the cast led by Advocaat were born in the Netherlands and have family origins linked to the Caribbean island. Just like Jamaica, a regional rival that has sought out many eligible English-born players, the coach believes there are still athletes in the Netherlands and elsewhere who can help the team.

"I have a very positive vision about the future," he said. "But at the same time, some positions need to improve."

"We need to find these players so we can play with more freedom. It takes a lot of effort to achieve results, something we see in opposing teams. Their football seemed simpler, lighter. That's what we need to improve."

Advocaat, who also coached the Netherlands in the 1994 World Cup and South Korea in the 2006 World Cup, said he has not yet thought about whether this might have been his last major competition.

"I didn't think about it for a minute. I was focused on the match and trying to achieve the best possible result with the resources we have."

"I was just trying to figure out, without rest, how we could improve."

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Source: CNN