"He has never left." That's how Curaçao defender Livano Comenencia describes Dick Advocaat's return to the dugout — and it tells you everything about the bond between this manager and this squad.
Advocaat, 78, stepped down after guiding Curaçao to their historic first World Cup qualification — a 0-0 draw with Jamaica in November 2025 — when his daughter's health deteriorated. His replacement, Fred Rutten, oversaw a 2-0 loss to China and a 5-1 hammering by Australia. By May, with his daughter's condition improved, Advocaat was back. The reunion wasn't complicated. It was inevitable.
A family that dances, sings, and prays together
What makes Curaçao's story compelling isn't just the underdog narrative — it's the culture Advocaat built and the players maintained even when he was gone. The Blue Wave kept their rituals: music, dancing, prayer. A newer squad kept the identity alive through a difficult transitional spell.
"Nothing happened," Comenencia said. "He had to go for a good reason. Family always goes first."
Winger Arjany Martha put it simply: "We're one family and as a family, we want to start something and finish it together." That's not PR language. When a squad survives a 5-1 loss and still talks like that, the culture is real.
Advocaat's approach is deliberately player-first. No rigid atmosphere, no suffocating structure. "He just let us be," Comenencia said. After 40 years coaching across the globe, Advocaat clearly knows which battles are worth fighting — and policing a dressing room playlist isn't one of them.
June 14: Germany awaits
When Curaçao kick off against Germany on June 14, Advocaat will officially become the oldest manager ever to oversee a World Cup match. That's his third World Cup as a manager — a list that includes spells with the Netherlands and South Korea. The man has been here before. His players haven't.
That gap in experience is Curaçao's biggest challenge. Germany will be among the favorites to lift the trophy, and anyone backing a Curaçao result at that stage of the group phase should know exactly what they're getting into. The value isn't in backing the upset — it's in watching whether this team can keep their shape and culture intact on the world's biggest stage.
Advocaat has spent nearly two years turning a tiny island nation into World Cup participants. As far as he's concerned, the transformation is complete: "I'm Dutch, but I think working for two years in Curaçao makes me a true Curaçao national."
At 78, managing his third World Cup, he probably means it.
