“The smallest country, but lots of fans in the Netherlands, writes Louise Devries. “Many of us have been in Curaçao. We know all the players as they (-1) were born here and play(ed) here. About 8 players wore the oranje shirt in youth selections. Chong was expected once to get in Oranje. Great to see him play in the WC. He is the one to watch.
Hup Blauwe Golf!”
Yes, Chong is the only player born on the island. He’s got some pace and trickery, and I guess it makes sense that he play centrally so they can get him on the ball as often as possible.
In other football news, it seems that Marc Cucurella is leaving Chelsea for Real Madrid. I’m a little surprised by that – he’s a decent player, but there are better left-backs around.
Here’s today’s Football Daily.
Email! “Tiny Curaçao has just 158,000 citizens, apparently,” says Justin Kavanagh. “So after tonight (assuming they throw on at least four subs), one in every 10,500 Curaçao’s will have played against Germany at a World Cup finals.”
It’s amazing isn’t it? With the expansion of the competition, Curaçao saw the glimmer of an opportunity, backed themselves by appointing first Guus Hiddink then Patrick Kluivert, and Advocaat finished the job. There’ll be a decent atmosphere on the island this lunchtime, I shouldn’t wonder.
Where is the game? It’s not easy to find an obvious weakness in Germany’s defensive set up, but both full-backs like to get forward and Kimmich can often be found inverting, so I’d be looking to target the space they leave. Otherwise, runs in behind the centre-backs that get them turned and facing their own goal might work, so too set-pieces.
Germany, meanwhile, will keep the ball moving, with Musiala and Wirtz looking to pick holes. I wonder if they might lack a bit of natural width, Wirtz not being a winger and Sane playing on the right, but they can always change things and look to put crosses in – they’ve got Nick Woltemade and Deniz Undav on the bench, both of whom can change things.
Stop press: Wikipedia advises me Chong’s full name is Tahith Jose Girigorio Djorkaef Chong and yes, he is named after the Bolton legend, who his dad loved at Inter.
As for Curaçao, Advocaat has resisted the urge to go with a back five – it hamstrung South Africa against Mexico, for what thats worth – to match up against Germany. Leandro Bacuna, of course, played for Villa in the Premier League, while Tahith Chong, who played for Man United a few times and is now at Sheffield United.
Manuel Neuer, meanwhile, becomes Germany’s oldest World Cup player, coming out of international retirement at the age of 40. If I was Dick Advocaat, I’d be trying to put him under pressure as soon as possible.
Looking at the Germany team, it’s pretty much as expected. I might’ve gone with Antonio Rudiger not Jonathan Tah, but there’s some serious footballing chops in that back four while, in front of them, Aleksandar Pavlovic is a potential superstar. It’s a shame Lennart Karl is injured, but Jamal Musiala will be the creative hub, while the slower pace of international football – all the more so given the temperatures – might just suit Floran Wirtz, who has plenty to prove. And up front, though Kai Havertz isn’t everyone’s idea of a centre-forward, he’s a big-game player with the feet and cunning to bring those behind him into play.
Great news: Emma Hayes is in the ITV studio. There aren’t many better pundits, and she’s currently extolling Mauricio Pochettino who, for the first time since he was at Spurs, has players who fit his high-energy, ego-free style of football. I quite fancy USA to do well; don’t be surprised if they beat more vaunted opponents.
Germany’s Florian Wirtz (left) and Nadiem Amiri are in the house. Photograph: Julian Finney/Fifa/Getty Images
Curaçao are the smallest nation ever to make it to a World Cup. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images
There’s a concept in Jewish practice and learning that we call “lishma”; for its own sake. Roughly, it means that, in their purest expression, commandments aren’t fulfilled and texts aren’t studied for performative purposes, nor for any kind of reward or benefit, but in pursuit of truth and connection with the divine.
You can feel a segue coming, right? Well, here it is: the group stage of this World Cup features 72 matches to eliminate just 16 teams, which means those of us with no financial interest in proceedings watch them knowing the majority have little bearing on who stays and who goes, never mind who lifts the trophy at the end. Rather, we’re here for the simple beauty of football and joy of the competition.
But what beauty and what joy! Curaçao have never previously qualified for this competition and now they have, they’re its smallest ever participant, by population – less than 160,000 – and area – 171 square miles. Dick Advocaat, their manager, left in February to look after his ill daughter, but happily her condition improved so he’s back at the helm; we can be certain his team will be organised and ready.
Germany, meanwhile, have endured a miserable time at the World Cup since winning it in 2014 – in both Russia and Qatar, they were eliminated in the group stages, losing to Mexico and South Korea, then Japan. This is not what is expected from or of Turniermannschaft, the tournament team and, with a blue-chip coach now in charge, they’ll surely improve on those that pair of embarrassments.
Whether they’ve the firepower to go all the way, though, remains to be seen. At the back, they look strong and in midfield, they’ve so many options it’s ridiculous, but up front, they lack a reliable scorer – though, given the creative brilliance of what’s behind, the retired and 48-year-old Miroslav Klose would probably have fancied himself to bag a few, even if his signature somersault is probably harder to perform.
That being the case, it’s hard to see any outcome here other than a convincing Germany win. But if Curaçao can start well, things might just get tense and, if they do, our attention will shift from enjoying whatever the game throws at us to contemplating one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history. And if that happens, celebrations in the south Caribbean will give the term “lishma” an entirely new aspect.
