Guus Hiddink
Experienced coach bidding to reach his fourth World Cup with Curacao
Guus Hiddink already has an impressive World Cup pedigree. He took a disparate and ego-filled Netherlands squad to the quarter-finals in the USA in 1994, and eight years later guided an extraordinarily fit South Korea on a fairy-tale run to the last four.
He also qualified Australia by orchestrating an upset of Uruguay in the qualifying play-off for a place at the 2006 finals, and then got the Socceroos past the first round in Germany before a controversial loss to Italy.
But, at the age of 74, the Dutchman wants more and is attempting to take the tiny island of Curacao to the finals for the first time, aiming for a place in Qatar next year, beginning the bid with their opening qualifiers at home to St. Vincent and the Grenadines and then away in Cuba at the end of March.
Curacao are one of the seeded teams in the first group stage, where just a single round of matches is being played, and their biggest threat will be Guatemala, who they host in June.
The group winner advances to a play-off round. If they get through that, there will be a final group stage, where the likes of Mexico and USA are already placed.
“That is going to be a difficult task,” says Hiddink, “but we are going to do everything we can to get there.”
Curacao are ranked ninth in the CONCACAF region, who have three and a half places at the Qatar World Cup, and 82nd overall. Hiddink believes they could reach the top 30.
It is a massive ask for a country with a population just over 150,000, but the colonial ties with the Netherlands means he could yet make a decent tilt at it, with several players in the Dutch youth teams possessing ancestral links to the tiny Caribbean island.
“I thought it was really special when I was asked a while ago. I’ve been around the world a bit, but never in this part of the world,” Hiddink said on his first trip to the island in November to run his eye over his squad.
Since then he has been to the Netherlands, courting players he hopes can strengthen the team and make realistic their chances. Patrick van Aanholt was one such target, with the Crystal Palace left-back called up by Curacao in 2017 without playing, although that opportunity ended in November when he played in the UEFA Nations League. Jurgen Locadia however, formerly of Brighton and Hove Albion, is expected to agree to play for Hiddink.
Under former Netherlands striker Patrick Kluivert, who managed the team for just over a year between 2015 and 2016, Cardiff City’s Leandro
It is a massive ask for a country with a population just over 150,000, but the colonial ties with the Netherlands means he could yet make a decent tilt at it
Bacuna and Columbus Crew goalkeeper Eloy Room were enlisted, having previously represented Dutch youth teams, as was striker Rangelo Janga, who now has 11 goals in 19 caps. Former Everton defender Cuco Martina is the country’s captain and most-capped player.
With one or two more experienced additions, the team will have a realistic chance of reaching Qatar, giving their manager hope of yet another World Cup trip.