Family comes first: Curacao coach to miss World Cup due to daughter’s illness

Curacao will head into their World Cup warm-up friendly against Scotland on May 30 with a new head coach, following Dick Advocaat’s decision to step down for personal reasons.

The veteran Dutchman had guided the Caribbean nation to its first-ever World Cup qualification, but will now hand over the reins to compatriot Fred Rutten.

At 78 years old, Advocaat was on track to become the oldest head coach in the history of the World Cup finals. He previously described taking the small island nation, home to roughly 150,000 people, to the global stage as the "craziest thing" he had accomplished in a managerial career of almost four decades.

According to reports from Dutch media, Advocaat resigned due to health issues affecting his daughter. "I've always said family is above football," he said. "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, who also coached the Netherlands, Belgium, South Korea, PSV Eindhoven and Sunderland, spent two years in charge of Curacao.

During his tenure, the team went unbeaten in six matches and secured their historic World Cup berth by finishing top of their CONCACAF qualifying group, ahead of Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Bermuda.