Manager of smallest nation to qualify for the World Cup resigns due to daughter’s health

Veteran Dutch manager Dick Advocaat has made the difficult decision to step down as head coach of Curaçao, citing his daughter’s health issues, just months before he was set to lead the Caribbean nation in their historic World Cup opener against four-time champions Germany.

"Family comes before football," Advocaat stated in a release from the country's football federation.

"This is therefore a natural decision. But that doesn’t change the fact that I will miss Curaçao, the people there, and my colleagues very much."

The 78-year-old added, "I consider qualifying the smallest country in the world for the World Cup one of the highlights of my career. I’m proud of my players, staff, and the board members who believed in us."

Curaçao is poised to make history as the smallest nation by population ever to compete in the men’s World Cup.

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With approximately 156,000 inhabitants, the autonomous Dutch territory surpasses Iceland, which held the previous record with just over 350,000 people when they qualified for Russia 2018.

The team’s remarkable success is largely attributed to its strategic recruitment of players born and raised in the Netherlands.

Curaçao has actively sought out its diaspora, securing FIFA’s permission to change the national-team eligibility of several players who previously represented the Netherlands at youth or Under-21 level, including five since August.

Fred Rutten has been named as Advocaat’s successor, bringing experience from clubs such as FC Twente, PSV, Feyenoord, and Schalke 04.

Advocaat, a seasoned coach, previously guided his native Netherlands to the 1994 World Cup quarter-finals and coached South Korea at the 2006 tournament in Germany.

Premier League fans will be familiar with Advocaat, who has also managed Rangers, following his brief spell in charge of Sunderland in 2015 when he steered the club away from relegation.