There are not many 7-1 games in which the one feels wholly more significant than the seven. But Germany have scored many World Cup goals before and they will score many more. In contrast, Curacao’s goal here in Houston was a moment that will forever be etched into the country’s story.
The ball broke loose in the German penalty area and when it fell invitingly to right-back Livano Comenencia, stomachs tightened and eyes bulged. A stadium watched as Comenencia’s left-footed shot deflected off the underside of Germany captain Joshua Kimmich’s leg, into the ground and up over the outstretched hands of Manuel Neuer. Germany 1-1 Curacao, and Neuer’s first task in his fifth World Cup was to pick the ball out of the net.
Curacaoan players rushed to the corner in a delirious bundle. Their 78-year-old coach, Dick Advocaat, stood on the touchline with his arms raised in the air like a triumphant gladiator. All around him there was bedlam, substitutes running, coaches falling, a swathe of blue fans behind the dugout embracing the nearest person and dancing with joy.
There will come a time in this World Cup when the football takes over, when tactics and tension come to the fore, probably in the knockout stages when the real jeopardy kicks in. We will find out what Germany are really made of another day. But this group stage is about something else, about collective experience and shared memories. Everyone connected to the tiny Caribbean island of Curacao will remember where they were when Livano Comenencia scored that goal against Germany.
It is worth dispelling the notion that Curacao are World Cup minnows, in the original sense. All of their players came through the Dutch football system and the only Curacaoan squad member born on the island, Tahith Chong, left to join Feyenoord’s academy when he was 10. They are not a bunch of Caribbean plumbers and electricians but a professional group, many of whom have played in the Dutch Eredivisie. Comenencia trained in Juventus’s academy.
Yet it can still be true that for an island of 150,000 people, almost half of whom could have fitted inside this vast NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, it was an extraordinarily powerful thing. This is a country which became autonomous in 2010 after years of Dutch rule as part of the Netherlands Antilles. In generations past it had been a hub for the Dutch Atlantic slave trade. So when the Curacaoan journalist three seats down broke with all press box etiquette, leapt off his chair and bellowed “We did it!” on repeat, he was entitled to indulge in the moment.
It had begun ominously for Curacao, who were behind after only six minutes. One of the pre-match debates in the German media was whether Bayern Munich’s Leon Goretzka would start despite a limited role for the German champions this season, or whether Dortmund’s Felix Nmecha might be preferred in midfield. Julian Nagelsmann chose Nmecha, and the former England youth international repaid the faith with an arcing finish into the far corner after a smart one-two with Florian Wirtz.
But Curacao threatened with the occasional flurry on the break and their goal wasn’t entirely against the run of play. It was, perhaps, a vindication of Fifa’s inflated 48-team format to see a debut nation score against one of the great grandfathers of World Cup football, the four-time champions, against one of the great modern goalkeepers no less.
What was not an endorsement for Fifa’s approach to the tournament was the mid-half hydration breaks, powered by Powerade, which were taken immediately after Curacao’s goal. Curacao had momentum on the field and a raucous atmosphere off it, and all of that energy was sucked away, replaced by a Mariachi Band who came out onto a balcony and serenaded the crowd while adverts played on Fox Sports. It was a catchy jig, but the game felt flatter when it restarted three minutes later.
Germany would have taken charge anyway but from that point on, Curacao never regained a foothold. Nico Schlotterbeck nodded in a corner unmarked, and when Nmecha was felled in the box just before half-time, Kai Havertz slotted home the penalty despite the jeers of Curacao fans standing behind their goalkeeper Eloy Room.
A couple of minutes into the second half, Kimmich slid a precise pass into the path of Jamal Musiala, who slotted the ball past Room. Germany’s best goal was their fifth, when substitute Deniz Undav flicked the ball into the air for left-back Nathaniel Brown to volley into the far corner. Undav added a sixth from close range and Havertz’s dinked finish for No 7 was delicious.
It was Germany’s day. A sharp, confident Havertz will be essential to their progress and he looked hungry leading the line here. Yet perhaps Curacao, whose fans greeted their players like heroes at the full-time whistle, can take some encouragement from this heavy defeat on their World Cup debut. If they can score against Germany, they can score against anyone.
