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Dutch veteran Dick Advocaat returns to lead Curacao to the World Cup and set a record as the oldest coach in the tournament’s 96-year history.
The return of Advocaat, 78, three months after his resignation citing a family health problem, was confirmed on Tuesday by the Curacao football federation, a day after Fred Rutten left the position.
“Discussions between (the federation) and Dick Advocaat regarding the further details of this appointment are currently ongoing,” he said, with “the aim of ensuring stability, clarity and continuity around the national team.”
When Curacao makes its World Cup debut against Germany on June 14 in Houston, Advocaat will be seven years older than Otto Rehhagel was when he was 71 coaching Greece in the 2010 World Cup.
It will also be Advocaat’s third World Cup with a third different team: his native Netherlands in 1994 and South Korea in 2006.
Curacao also plays Ecuador in Kansas City and Ivory Coast in Philadelphia in the first 48-team World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. The expanded format gave three additional guaranteed entries to the CONCACAF region.
Advocaat led the small Caribbean island team through qualifying and was then replaced in February by compatriot Rutten.
Rutten oversaw two warm-up match losses in March, against Australia and China, and was reportedly unpopular with players who wanted Advocaat to return.
Curaçao is an autonomous territory of about 156,000 people in the Caribbean within the kingdom of the Netherlands. The team is based almost exclusively on players born and raised in Holland.
