SOCCER: Advocaat happy to be back at the helm of an excited Curacao

Veteran coach Dick Advocaat has felt no qualms about returning to the helm of the Curacao team and taking them to the World Cup after the sudden resignation of Fred Rutten earlier this month.

Advocaat, who at 78 will become the oldest coach in World Cup history, qualified the tiny Caribbean island to a first World Cup last November but quit in February because of the ill health of his daughter.

But he returned just over a fortnight ago after an alleged player putsch forced out his successor, Dutch compatriot Fred Rutten.

At a press conference on Thursday, Advocaat said he did not consider the circumstances of his return unusual.

“Fred Rutten resigned himself. So I wouldn’t know what the problem is,” he said in Noordwijk, where he is preparing the team for next month’s tournament in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

“It has been an unpleasant period these past few weeks. A lot has happened. It could have been done differently,” he added.

“I haven’t had contact with Rutten. Only for an hour when I handed the job over,” said Advocaat, who told the Curacao football federation that he was available again. “I didn’t hesitate to return. I wouldn’t know why not.”

Advocaat said he was looking forward to the World Cup with confidence despite Curacao being the smallest nation to ever compete and given scant chance.

"Reaching the next round is our goal," he told reporters. "It is unprecedented for Curacao. The excitement is immense. The joy of those people is so beautiful. We in the Netherlands can take an example from that. We are looking forward to it.”

Advocaat coached the Dutch at the 1994 finals, the last time the tournament was hosted in the U.S.

"With the Netherlands, the pressure and expectations are so much higher than with Curacao. That is precisely what makes it fun to participate with Curacao and to surprise everyone. It really is something special."

The islanders compete in Group E against Germany, Ecuador, and Ivory Coast, and Advocaat said that in that context they should be seen as an amateur club. "Amateur teams can also beat top division teams. So anything is possible at such a big tournament."

He said the families of the Curacao squad would be travelling along to the final tournament.

"The German players all have top salaries; our players don't. They would have to miss their families for a month, which seems difficult to me.

“That is why it was decided to travel to the tournament as one large group,” he explained.

-Mark Gleeson/Reuters