On 31 January 2021, United's 21-year-old rising star Tassy Chung ended a six-month loan spell at Werder Bremen, where he will play for Belgian side Brugge on loan for six months. As a fourth-generation Chinese, Zhong Taxi was once regarded by Chinese fans as a key target for the naturalization of national football, but it is difficult for Zhong Taxi to qualify for the Chinese national team through the "grandmother rule", not to mention that he represented the Dutch U17 national team in the U17 European Youth Championship qualifiers as early as 2015.
However, because of Tashi, many fans know this place of Curaçao, because he was born on this small island in the Caribbean Sea. Today, Chinese fans may be more concerned about Curacao, because on August 22 last year, former Chinese Olympic coach Hiddink became the team's head coach. It is worth noting that in the latest EDITION OFFA rankings in December 2020, Curaçao ranked 76th, only 1 place lower than the Chinese team...
Curaçao is an island located in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the coast of Venezuela. The island is part of the Netherlands Antilles and is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The capital of Curaçao is the port city of Willemstad, which is also the capital of the Netherlands Antilles. Aruba and Bonaire, which are also Dutch dependencies in Curaçao and the neighboring regions, are often referred to collectively as the "ABC Islands". With an area of 444 square kilometers, Curaçao is the largest island in the Netherlands Antilles, but the population is only about 160,000 people.
Curaçao is known for its azure seas, pristine sand beaches and the beers that bear its name, but Curaçao remained unknown on the map of world football until March 2015, when former Dutch centre-forward Kluivert took over the team's coaching whip. As one of the most prolific strikers in the history of Dutch football, Kluivert surprisingly chose to coach Curaçao precisely because his mum is from the island and he would love to make some contributions on behalf of his mum Curaçao.
The arrival of Kluivert did not allow Curaçao's record to improve rapidly, but under his strong appeal, many Dutch Curaçao players chose to represent the Curaçao national team. Kluivert used his large naturalized player base to build a team full of dreams. By June 2016, Curaçao was able to reach the final stage of the Caribbean Cup.
Although Kluivert left the team and his assistant Bicentini succeeded as the new coach of the Curaçao national team, he led the team further: in Bisendini's Curacao national team coaching debut, he led the team to victory over Jamaica to win the Caribbean Cup, and then led the team to the final round of the Central American and Caribbean Gold Cup for three consecutive years. And in the 2019 Gold Cup in North America and the Caribbean, Curacao reached the quarter-finals in one fell swoop, and finally only lost 0-1 to the powerful United States, stopping at the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup. In North America and the Caribbean, Curaçao has risen at an astonishing pace.
But perhaps it is precisely because of the rapid rise of the team that the Curaçao Football Association has begun to have more vision for the 2022 World Cup. As Bicentini was leading the team in preparation for the 2022 Fifac world cup qualifiers in Qatar and the 2021 Gold Cup, in August last year, the Curaçao Football Association suddenly announced that the "magical coach" Hiddink would replace Bicentini as the new manager of the Curacao national team.
However, Hiddink's new appointment was accompanied by great controversy, because Bisentini was dismissed without his knowledge. For his dismissal, Bicentini looked extremely bitter and angry at the time, he said bluntly, "I am curaçao's most successful manager, but if you can only hear the news of your dismissal from the media, it will be a heavy blow." I don't quite understand Hiddink, there were indeed rumors that he was going to coach Curaçao, but he made it clear in an interview with the Dutch media that he would only sign a contract until I and the Curacao Football Association had properly resolved everything, and he even called me personally to make a promise, and he told me that he knew my pain because he had experienced such things in China. But now, everything is in reverse order. ”
In September 2019, in view of the poor preparation of the Chinese U22 national team led by Hiddink, the Chinese Football Association decided to establish the "Leading Group for the Preparation of the Chinese U22 National Men's Football Team" to be fully responsible for the training and competition of the team. The notice meant that Hiddink, who had been leading the team for a year, was officially dismissed.
However, no matter what, Hiddink eventually successfully entered Curacao, and Bicentini took over the coaching whip of the Canadian national team in recent days. Interestingly, in the FIFA rankings, Canada and Curacao are very close, and in the near future, the two teams will also have the opportunity to meet on the international stage.
Like Kluivert, Hiddink is also very dependent on naturalized players, and the most famous of the Current Curaçao national team, the Bakuna brothers, have played for the Dutch youth national team in their youth, and finally chose to play for Curaçao. Currently, older brother Leandro Bakuna plays for Championship side Cardiff City, while younger brother Juninho Bakuna is a key striker for Huddersfield In the Championship.
According to the contract, Hiddink signed with Curacao until the 2022 Qatar World Cup, in terms of leading weak teams to counterattack, the 74-year-old Dutch coach has a long and successful history, this time coaching Curacao, I am afraid it is the last stop of his coaching career, then, once disgraced by Chinese football, can he restore the reputation of "magic coach" this time?