00:00For the first time ever, this tiny Curaçao is participating in the FIFA World Cup, the world's largest sporting event.
00:09Curaçao has already created a unique story in the World Cup history.
00:12Brentford Ballantin is one of the most recognisable faces in Curaçao's fan base.
00:17He began actively cheering and building a more euphoric crowd in the stanza from the year 2015.
00:24For Curaçao to be in the World Cup means something very important.
00:28It's our chance to show the world who we are and what a country this small can have a big
00:33achievement like this.
00:35Curaçao Federation has for years worked on building a more competitive team.
00:39It actively recruited from diaspora getting permission from FIFA within World Soccer's rules
00:44to change the national eligibility of players who once represented the Netherlands at youth or under 21 level.
00:52I think we are really proud people.
00:53I think every country has talent.
00:56But I think for such a small island to have achieved this, the smallest island in the world,
01:01and also with a lot of baseball and athletic space, it shows that we are really good in doing sports.
01:07But we haven't always harvested that in our system.
01:10So with this identifier, we hope that everybody sees the qualities we have
01:15and that we are an island to be reckoned with, I hope.
01:19The Federation also began to build a brand for the country, the so-called Blue Wave, further solidifying the patriotic
01:26sentiment.
01:28Curaçao's autonomy and the football fever may seem a new thing, but its people have always loved football.
01:37Yeah, I mean, it's amazing, obviously, for the whole island.
01:40Obviously, I'm born here, so lots of family and everyone is here.
01:44So I think it's been amazing for the whole island, you know, just seeing how the island has lived with
01:49it
01:49and just knowing, I think a lot of people don't know about Curaçao, loves football, and it's quite big here.
01:53So to be present this year at the World Cup is obviously something amazing for the island.
01:58A playoff match of the local football league was attended recently by hundreds of excited fans in the capital of
02:04Wilmstadt.
02:06With a population of approximately 156,000, this small island nation or autonomous territory
02:12is now the smallest in both population and land area to qualify for soccer's biggest stage.
02:18The World Cup is expected to begin on June 11th as three countries stage the most competitive tournament in the
02:25world.
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