Armando Obispo debunks rumor

Armando Obispo prepares with Curaçao for their first appearance at the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States. With former PSV coach Dick Advocaat at the helm, the island sets off for the global final tournament.

Three months ago, Advocaat stepped down from his duties as head coach of Curaçao due to his daughter's health and handed the responsibilities to Fred Rutten, also a former PSV coach, who took over the role from the native Hague resident. Under Rutten, Curaçao suffered two defeats against China (2-0) and Australia (5-1), which increased the pressure from the media and sponsors on the born Tukker.

In the end, Rutten decided to step aside, after which Advocaat returned. The way the 78-year-old coach came back led many a football analyst to the necessary debate, and Obispo also caught wind of this situation.

However, the defender of PSV no longer wants to spend attention on the soap opera surrounding the national coach position. ''It has been a noisy period. For us, it is now important that the focus shifts to the World Cup''', Obispo tells Noa Vahle in front of the camera of SBS6.

After that, it is mentioned that Rutten may not fit well with the players of The Blue Wave, but according to Obispo there is nothing to that. ''The guys I spoke to said that isn’t true. Fred was just fine within the group. Besides, I can’t really say much more about that. For all parties, it doesn’t look good'', says the central defender candidly.

Still, Obispo admits that it works better with Advocaat as national coach. ''You go together on a journey over a period of two years. You get used to each other. He knows how to reach the boys and how to deal with us. It's a good match'', the defender concludes.