Head off for the Dutch team and a hard blow for Curaçao: this is what happened on day 4 of the Football World Cup

When Livano Comenencia scored the equalizer on behalf of Curaçao against four-time world champion Germany in the 21st minute, the American commentator for Fox One almost seemed happier than the FC Zurich midfielder himself. It wouldn’t be, is a fairy tale in the making, the smallest country ever at a World Cup against a traditional one soccer powerhouseDavid versus Goliath, and all that.

As the match progressed, his enthusiasm waned: the impossible indeed turned out to be impossible. Germany only stopped when it was 7-1, the same score with which they defeated Brazil in 2014. But while the Brazilians left deeply ashamed at the time, the disappointed men of national coach Dick Advocaat could also be proud, they concluded after the match in Houston.

A few hours later, the Netherlands started its match against Japan in Dallas, which, according to friend and foe, is the Netherlands’ biggest competitor in group F, which also includes Tunisia and Sweden. They would meet later that day at the Monterrey Stadium in Mexico, at 4:00 in the Dutch morning. The Swedes, who with great difficulty qualified for this World Cup, won that match by no less than 5-1.

The Netherlands and Japan turned it into a great football battle after a very cautious first half. It was difficult to be dissatisfied with the 2-2 final result, although there was criticism of the substitution policy of national coach Ronald Koeman. With a 2-1 lead, he took off Crysencio Summerville, Donyell Malen and Tijjani Reijnders, three fast players. The Netherlands started to back away and conceded a perhaps unnecessary equalizer just before the end. However, satisfaction prevailed over the game shown. On Saturday, the Netherlands will play against group leader Sweden in Houston.

After the Dutch match, Ivory Coast surprised the ‘experts’ by beating Ecuador, which was considered stronger, 1-0 in the group. The Africans are therefore second in group E behind Germany.

On the fifth matchday of this World Cup, two other highly rated teams will play for the first time on Monday. In group G, Belgium plays against Egypt, in group H Spain plays against Cape Verde. Uruguay and Saudi Arabia also play against each other in the latter group.

And there is another charged match on the agenda: in group G, New Zealand plays against Iran, the country with which host country the United States was still at war until Sunday’s peace agreement.

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