Dave Skretta
Kansas City: King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and Princess Ariane of the Netherlands began the day by cheering the Dutch past Sweden in Houston.
The Dutch royals ended Saturday (US time) by watching Curacao make history against Ecuador in Kansas City.
The small island nation of Curacao is a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and that makes King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima the heads of state. So, after a quick flight north after the Netherlands game, the royal couple and their daughter dutifully swapped out the bright orange scarves of Het Oranje Legioen they wore to their earlier match with bright blue ones for The Blue Wave.
Curacao, the smallest World Cup team in population and size, made its tournament debut last Sunday in a 7-1 loss to Germany. But it bounced back from that defeat for a 0-0 draw with the Ecuadorian team La Tri, and earnt its first-ever point in the World Cup.
“It is an extra-special World Cup because we have both the Netherlands and Curacao,” Willem-Alexander told RTL-TV. “So we have twice as many teams to cheer for. A great opportunity to cheer on both the Blues and the Oranges. All in all, it will be a special World Cup for me with two teams, and I naturally hope they go extremely far.”
The Netherlands moved one step closer to the knockout round after a 5-1 win over Sweden.
Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo scored two goals apiece to help coach Ronald Koeman’s team bounce back from a disappointing draw in its opener and move atop Group F. The Netherlands concludes group play against Tunisia on Thursday in Kansas City.
Curacao is still alive, too, after Eloy Room made 15 saves — one off the World Cup record — to earn a draw with Ecuador. It concludes Group E play on Thursday against Ivory Coast in Philadelphia at the same time Ecuador is playing Germany in New York.
“It’s amazing,” Curacao midfielder Tahith Chong said of celebrating with the royal family in the locker room. “I knew before the game that they were coming to the game. To have them at such a game that we pick up our first point ever in history is amazing.”
It is rare for sitting monarchs to come through the Kansas City area. Queen Ann of Romania attended the dedication of the Liberty Memorial, which is where Kansas City is holding its World Cup FanFest, in the 1920s, while King Gustav XVI of Sweden made a stop in the small Kansas town of Lindsborg when he was passing through the Midwest in the 1970s.
Then again, there has never been a sporting event as big as the World Cup through the area, either.
Nor has a nation as small as Curacao ever earned a point in the tournament.
“Seeing how the king, his wife and daughter fit in our group is something that evokes a lot of respect,” said 78-year-old Curacao coach Dick Advocaat, who was born and raised in the Netherlands. “They smile, they dance, nothing is too much for them, and you can see them radiating with joy. It was wonderful to see the royal family in this way.”
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