Curacao, tiny island with big dreams of World Cup glory

Curacao football supporters pose beside a poster of international Leandro Bacuna, on the eve of the World Cup, in which the Caribbean island will be the smallest country ever to compete (Raul ARBOLEDA)

(Raul ARBOLEDA/AFP/AFP)

"Small island, big dreams" reads a poster for the football team of the Caribbean island of Curacao -- the smallest country ever, by population, to qualify for football's World Cup.

Since Curacao clinched qualification with a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Jamaica in November, the 160,000 inhabitants of the Dutch island famed for its eponymous sapphire liqueur are riding the crest of the Blue Wave, as the national side is dubbed.

The qualification is expected to give tourism on the paradisical island of white sand beaches, which received 1.5 million visitors last year, a boost.

Visitor numbers were already up 13 percent in the first three months of the year.

"Football is putting us on the global map," Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas, himself a former footballer, told AFP in an interview, predicting a visitor influx.

Far from the luxury seafront hotels and Caribbean cruise ships that dock in the port of the capital Willemstad, a group of teenagers kick a ball around a dirt pitch in the low-income neighborhood of Fuik.

The players are from a foundation for young people from underprivileged backgrounds set up by former Dutch-Curacaoan manager Remko Bicentini, who played professional football in the Netherlands and later coached Curacao.

On the gate, a motivational slogan in Papiamento, the creole spoken in the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, advises young people to take destiny in their hands.

"You are responsible for your future," it reads.

• Diaspora's starring role -

"If you come on holidays to Curacao, you see beaches and everything looks perfect," Bicentini said. "But there are also areas where poor people live."

"Many families have three, four, five children but no money. We help them when they don't have enough to eat," he said.

Neveron Alberto, one of his young disciples, dreams of being called up for the national team, but the road to selection is littered with obstacles for local players.

The island owes its World Cup berth entirely to its Dutch-based diaspora, the president of Curacao's football federation, Gilbert Martina, admitted.

"All the players on the national team play in foreign leagues," he said.

The only team member born on in Curacao, Tahith Chong, moved to the Netherlands at the age of 13.

But football is increasingly in vogue on what has traditionally been a baseball-mad island.

Federation president Martina hopes the World Cup will swell the ranks of the 3,500 to 4,000 islanders officially registered in clubs to date.

The most famous Curacaoan is perhaps former Ajax and Barcelona star Patrick Kluivert, who was born to a Surinamese father who played for the South American country and a mother from Curacao.

The former striker told AFP he was "very happy" about Curacao's qualification.

"It's fantastic that the island is in the World Cup," he said.

"In my day, (football) was not that big on the island but the players have given Curacao visibility. It's important for the future, for the next generation," added Kluivert, who coached the Curacaoan side between 2015 and 2016.

• Tremble, Germany! -

Curacao has been drawn alongside Ecuador, Ivory Coast and four-time World Cup winner Germany in Group E, one of the toughest of the tournament.

Former Argentine star Claudio Caniggia, who travelled to Curacao for a retired legends tournament -- together with Ronaldinho, Kluivert, the Netherlands' Wesley Sneijder and Italy's Marco Materazzi -- predicted the World Cup would motivate the island's youth and lead to the emergence of new talent.

"If they manage to get through the first round it would be extraordinary," he said, while noting that the early stages of the World Cup are notable for producing surprises.

The optimism sweeping the island has infected the official fan store, where locals and tourists jostle for Curacao blue jerseys, caps and scarves.

As he rings up sales Rovien Petronilia, the 21-year-old cashier, believes football's greats will be humbled by lowly Curacao.

"We will beat Germany!" he predicted.

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