Curacao's houler and Chong are man utd academy graduates

Curaçao is set to become the smallest country by land area to ever participate in the World Cup finals, and the team happens to have two players who came through the Manchester United academy. Höler left the Manchester United academy in 2013, and Chong joined Manchester United academy three years later.

The small Caribbean island of Curaçao has a total population of just over 150,000, which, for a direct comparison, is about 75,000 fewer than the resident population of Trafford in the UK; its land area is only 171 square miles, even smaller than the Isle of Man.

After the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles, Curaçao officially became a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 2010.

The country's football development relies on a core group of players born in the Netherlands with ancestral roots from this small island. Among the 26-player squad, Chong is also the only player born in Curaçao.

The 31-year-old Höler entered the Manchester United academy earlier and was the first player to represent the Curaçao national team.

His father, Dean, made over 120 appearances in the English league during his playing career and now serves as the technical director of the Curaçao Football Federation, deeply committed to the country's football development; in a crucial World Cup qualifier against Jamaica, head coach Dick Advocaat was temporarily unable to perform his duties due to a family health issue, and Dean stepped in at the last minute to lead the team to victory in this decisive match.

Höler currently plays for Israeli club Maccabi Haifa. In his youth, he played for various Dutch national youth teams and officially chose to play for the Curaçao national team at the age of 24, having since made 37 appearances for the country. In this World Cup, the 78-year-old coach Advocaat is once again at the helm, and Höler is one of the most experienced veterans on the team.

For players like Höler, stepping onto the World Cup stage is like a fairytale come true. After their opening group stage match against Germany, the team will face Ecuador and Ivory Coast. He is determined to savor every moment of the tournament.

"I feel like I'm in a movie right now. I'm grateful to have this experience. I'm going to enjoy this journey to the fullest and not let this opportunity slip away," he said.

His father, Dean, added: "Höler is one of the trailblazers, although there were players before him who also tried. Only by truly achieving results can all the efforts take root.

In 2017, we successfully entered the Gold Cup, and this achievement made local people realize that representing Curaçao in international competitions is a viable path, and more and more people are identifying with it."

Chong officially joined the national team roster quite late. He was called up for the 2021 Gold Cup but ultimately did not make the final squad, and at that time, the team also withdrew from the competition due to a large-scale COVID-19 outbreak.

During his time at Manchester United, Chong represented the Netherlands U21 national team. Last August, he officially changed his nationality to play for his birthplace, Curaçao. Chong made a total of 16 appearances for Manchester United's first team and transferred to Birmingham City in the 2022/23 season.

In the 2023/24 season, he returned to the Premier League with Luton and now plays for Sheffield United. The 26-year-old is eager to step onto the World Cup stage.

"This is not just my dream come true, but for everyone on the team. We are the smallest country by size to participate in the World Cup in history, and every player has come through a completely different football path to get here.

My decision to become a naturalized player involved a long internal process. The captain and others have been dedicated to the national team for over a decade, so you can imagine how excited they are right now.

From the moment we secured our ticket to the World Cup finals, almost no one on the entire island slept. With the World Cup approaching, the whole nation is celebrating, and the atmosphere on the island is incredibly fervent.

In the past, local fans would support traditional powerhouses like Brazil and Argentina, but this year, we are on the World Cup stage ourselves. Everything is different now; all the locals will be cheering for Curaçao, and the thought of it is incredibly exciting."

Curaçao is about to make history in Houston, and these two former Red Devils academy players are core members of this team.