The tiny Caribbean island nation has a familiar face in their ranks whose time with Australia in 2018 is proving crucial ahead of the tournament
C
uraçao have been in dreamland since qualifying for a first World Cup last November but geopolitical reality kicked in as the team headed to Australia for games against China and the Socceroos. Due to war in the Middle East, Curaçao’s long-haul flight that should have been Amsterdam to Sydney via Dubai became instead Frankfurt to Singapore with lots of logistical stress and separate journeys.
The two island nations – though Australia is about 17,000 times bigger than the Caribbean country – meet in Melbourne on Tuesday. Curaçao has a population of 155,000 making it the smallest nation to make it to the global stage. Despite the differences, the two teams have more than just 2026 World Cup preparation in common.
There will be a familiar face on the opposition bench at AAMI Park who finds himself in a familiar situation. Roel Coumans was the assistant coach to Bert van Marwijk during his short spell in charge of the Socceroos that ended at the 2018 World Cup. Now Coumans is the number two for Curaçao after getting the call from head coach Fred Rutten, who has been in the role since February when Dick Advocaat stepped down after leading the team through qualification for the first time, topping a group containing Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Bermuda.
