We’re talking about a country of just 158,000 people. Reaching the World Cup was already the biggest occasion to celebrate in their history. So imagine what a goal means. Especially when it comes against four-time world champion Germany. Even Germany’s seven goals could not create the kind of immortality that Livano Comanecia earned with one strike. It may not seem like much now, but even a hundred years from now when people talk about Curaçao’s first World Cup goal, Comanecia’s name will be mentioned.
Many people described this match as one of the great ‘mismatched matches’ in World Cup history. Germany, ranked ninth in the world, is 72 places above Curaçao in the FIFA rankings – the largest difference since North Korea versus Ivory Coast in 2010. Germany’s ability to dominate weaker opposition was already evident in their 8–0 thrashing of Saudi Arabia in 2002. Julian Nagelsmann’s team made another statement tonight with a 7–1 win, and by the fifth goal the commentator was already declaring, “Germany has found itself again!”
This will not be any relieving news for the rest of the tournament.
Germany also gave Curaçao an important lesson that there is no mercy for smaller teams in the World Cup. After Curaçao equalized in the 21st minute, Germany responded with six more goals. For some fans, the scoreline brought back memories of the 2014 World Cup semi-final against Brazil. Different opponent this time, same famous number: 7-1. In Bangladesh, many football fans call it simply “seven-up”.
The truth is that Germany’s work related to the World Cup is still incomplete. Since winning the title in 2014, they have suffered two consecutive group-stage exits and failed to win their first matches in both tournaments. So a goal-celebration always seemed possible. But who would have thought that Curaçao would score against Germany?
That is the World Cup: a place where fairy tales and storms are born together.
Let’s talk about the fairy tale first.