HOUSTON (AP) 鈥� For 37 minutes on Sunday, Cura莽ao stayed with four-time champion Germany, with the World Cup first-timers daring to believe they could pull off the unimaginable.
Livano Comenencia tied it with his left-footed shot through traffic from the center of the box in the 21st minute to give Cura莽ao and send fans of the Blue Wave into a frenzy.
But Germany broke a 1-1 tie in the 38th minute and overwhelmed this tiny Caribbean nation after that, running away with the game in the group stage.
鈥淭his is not a disgrace,鈥� Cura莽ao coach said. 鈥淚 think we can still be proud.鈥�
It was an emotional day for the 78-year-old Advocaat, a World Cup veteran who previously coached the Netherlands in 1994 and South Korea in 2006. He wept before the game as his team from a country of just 158,000 made history with its debut in the tournament.
鈥淭his is related with the joy of the people in Cura莽ao,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t may be a matter of my age, but this is when the emotion comes to the surface. I don鈥檛 really like it鈥� (but) the joy of the people is fantastic.鈥�
He became the oldest man to ever coach a World Cup game and did it against Germany鈥檚 38-year-old coach Julian Nagelsmann, who is the youngest in this year鈥檚 tournament.
Comenencia鈥檚 goal gave Cura莽ao confidence early and was yet another milestone in the team鈥檚 historic run.
鈥淭he goal was absolutely fantastic for all of us, for the nation as well,鈥� winger Kenji Gorr茅 said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more history being made. The first goal ever scored on the world stage, it鈥檚 just phenomenal and we鈥檙e all grateful that we were here to experience it (with) all the people in the stadium.鈥�
Nagelsmann was impressed with the fight shown by Cura莽ao and noted that it can be dangerous when an underdog gets confidence.
鈥淭he opponent played better than many had expected in Germany,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey played with a lot of courage.鈥�
While Cura莽ao was proud to have stuck with a powerhouse like Germany for most of the first half, there was disappointment at the final score. Cura莽ao had the biggest goal difference in a defeat of a nation making its World Cup debut since South Korea lost 9-0 to Hungary in 1954, according to Opta.
鈥淢ixed emotions, mixed feelings, on one side you think, 鈥榃ow, we鈥檝e made history by coming to the World Cup,鈥欌�� Gorr茅 said. 鈥淥n the other it鈥檚 like, ‘Wow, we wish that we could have got some points.” But we鈥檙e playing against the world鈥檚 best and the world鈥檚 best punish you at every opportunity they can, and you see that they punished us seven times from mistakes that we made.鈥�
Cura莽ao hopes that the experience gained Sunday will help as it continues in the tournament against Ecuador on Saturday in Kansas City.
鈥淲e still have matches to go and things can still end up differently,鈥� Advocaat said.
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