New Curacao coach itching to get started as World Cup looms

March 1 - Dutch coach Fred Rutten is honoured that he was recommended to take charge of tiny Curacao at the World Cup finals later this year and is itching to get the job started, he said on Sunday. Read more at straitstimes.com.

March 1 - Dutch coach Fred Rutten is honoured that he was recommended to take charge of tiny Curacao at the World Cup finals later this year and is itching to get the job started, he said on Sunday.

Rutten was named last month to take over from compatriot Dick Advocaat, who abruptly resigned as coach of the Caribbean island’s national team to spend more time with his ill daughter.

Advocaat, 78, had qualified Curacao for a first World Cup finals appearance and recommended the 63-year-old Rutten to take over for the tournament in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. in June, where Curacao are in Group E with Ecuador, Germany, and the Ivory Coast.

Rutten said the circumstances that led to his appointment were unpleasant, but he told a Dutch television football programme on Sunday he was itching to do the job.

"I would have preferred different circumstances. But I'm starting to get a little antsy. Actually, the Curacao football federation president asked Dick who the ideal candidate would be to take over from him, and Dick put me forward. I'm honoured by that," Rutten said.

The two coaches have a good relationship. "I never worked with him. But sometimes you meet someone, and you have a certain click and a certain feeling. It was just normal right away. He's a very nice man," Rutten added.