SOCCER: Advocaat resigns as Curacao coach due to daughter's health – report

Coach Dick Advocaat, who led Curacao to their first-ever World Cup qualification, will not lead the team at this year’s tournament after resigning for personal reasons, Dutch media reported Monday.

The former manager of the Netherlands, Belgium, South Korea, PSV Eindhoven, Sunderland, and Rangers stepped down due to his daughter’s health.

“I've always said family is above football. So this is a self-evident decision. But of course that doesn't change the fact that I'm going to miss Curacao, the people there and my colleagues very much,” Advocaat said.

Advocaat, 78, spent two years coaching Curacao and described guiding the Caribbean island, with a population of around 150,000, to the World Cup as the "craziest thing" in his nearly four-decade managerial career. He would have become the oldest coach in World Cup finals history.

He will be replaced by fellow Dutchman Fred Rutten, a former Netherlands defender who has managed PSV, Anderlecht, and Feyenoord.

Curacao will open their World Cup campaign in Group E against Germany in Houston on June 14.

-Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Ed Osmond/Reuters