Dutch royals swap orange for blue as they cheer for Netherlands, then Curaao at World Cup
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands began Saturday by cheering the Dutch past Sweden in Houston.The monarchs ended the day by watching Curacao make some 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 Saturday, the royal couple 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 La Tri and earn its first-ever point in the tournament.“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 e...