{"id":2961,"date":"2026-06-14T06:33:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T06:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2961"},"modified":"2026-06-14T06:33:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T06:33:51","slug":"curacao-embraces-historic-world-cup-debut-against-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2961","title":{"rendered":"Cura\u00e7ao embraces historic World Cup debut against Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Cura\u00e7ao is preparing for its historic World Cup debut against four-time champion Germany with a sense of excitement and pride.<\/p>\n

Read more Scotland marks 28-year World Cup absence with 1-0 victory over Haiti in Group C<\/a><\/p>\n

On Sunday, the island nation of 150,000 people will become the smallest country ever to compete at the World Cup.<\/p>\n

Coach Dick Advocaat has done his best to keep his players focused and relaxed as they navigate this unprecedented experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust be yourself, and don\u2019t be nervous,\u201d defender Shurandy Sambo said Advocaat told them, just before the team left its Florida base camp for Houston. \u201cOf course everybody is excited, but just be yourself, show yourself, because this is the biggest stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cura\u00e7ao players have worked hard to ensure they are prepared for their debut. Germany, making its 21st appearance in the World Cup, is a heavy favorite.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve watched a lot of clips of Germany. How they play, what they can do,\u201d Sambo said.<\/p>\n

Advocaat said there is more pressure on teams like Germany that are considered favorites and that his team has \u201ceverything to win and nothing to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s confident that Cura\u00e7ao is ready for the challenge of facing Germany, which he referred to as a towering contender.<\/p>\n

Read more Jalen Brunson bet on himself and bet on the Knicks. A championship and a Finals MVP was his reward<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a minor, very small country compared to Germany and we\u2019re going to make life very difficult for them,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be a very unpleasant team to play.\u201d <\/p>\n

Cura\u00e7ao\u2019s squad is representing a country that rarely has a chance to have moments as big as this on international sports stages.<\/p>\n

Due to its strong Dutch ties, Cura\u00e7ao is not recognized in the Olympics as its own nation, and despite its impressive per-capita production of professional baseball athletes, Cura\u00e7ao players represent the Netherlands at the World Baseball Classic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not here to just be here,\u201d midfielder Ar\u2019jany Martha said. \u201cWe want to show ourselves and get good results.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the country\u2019s small population, Cura\u00e7ao will have plenty of supporters to cheer them on as they make history. Sambo said his own family will be attending, as will 21 families of other players.<\/p>\n

\u201cI (would describe us) as one big family,\u201d defender Livano Comenencia said. \u201cIf you see us on the bus or outside the bus, in the hotel, we are always with music, always happy. Everybody is around each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Gracie Fisher is a student in the University of Georgia\u2019s Carmical Sports Media Institute.<\/p>\n

Read more Felon nabbed, car seized in Smithfield raid that uncovered cocaine, guns: Police<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Sports Writer Kristie Rieken contributed to this story.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP World Cup coverage: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/fifa-world-cup<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Cura\u00e7ao is preparing for its historic World Cup debut against…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nCura\u00e7ao embraces historic World Cup debut against Germany - Raleigh Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2961\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cura\u00e7ao embraces historic World Cup debut against Germany - Raleigh Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Cura\u00e7ao is preparing for its historic World Cup debut against...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2961\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Raleigh Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-14T06:33:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2961#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2961\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60\"},\"headline\":\"Cura\u00e7ao embraces historic World Cup debut against Germany\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-14T06:33:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2961\"},\"wordCount\":486,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2961#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/f0e1fe6033600aefe4c065974667223d.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2961#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2961\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2961\",\"name\":\"Cura\u00e7ao embraces historic World Cup debut against Germany - Raleigh Moving News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2961#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2961#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/f0e1fe6033600aefe4c065974667223d.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-14T06:33:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2961#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2961\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2961#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/f0e1fe6033600aefe4c065974667223d.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/f0e1fe6033600aefe4c065974667223d.webp\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":853},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?p=2961#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cura\u00e7ao embraces historic World Cup debut against Germany\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Raleigh Moving News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/raleighmovingnews.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cura\u00e7ao embraces historic World Cup debut against Germany - Raleigh Moving News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2961","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cura\u00e7ao embraces historic World Cup debut against Germany - Raleigh Moving News","og_description":"BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Cura\u00e7ao is preparing for its historic World Cup debut against...","og_url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2961","og_site_name":"Raleigh Moving News","article_published_time":"2026-06-14T06:33:51+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2961#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2961"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60"},"headline":"Cura\u00e7ao embraces historic World Cup debut against Germany","datePublished":"2026-06-14T06:33:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2961"},"wordCount":486,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2961#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f0e1fe6033600aefe4c065974667223d.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2961#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2961","url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2961","name":"Cura\u00e7ao embraces historic World Cup debut against Germany - Raleigh Moving News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2961#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2961#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f0e1fe6033600aefe4c065974667223d.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-14T06:33:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2961#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2961"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2961#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f0e1fe6033600aefe4c065974667223d.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f0e1fe6033600aefe4c065974667223d.webp","width":1280,"height":853},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2961#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cura\u00e7ao embraces historic World Cup debut against Germany"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/","name":"Raleigh Moving News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eda87157c0d9ccdbb002a999547a6a60","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}