WILLEMSTAD, Curacao — While there is widespread concern about the state of Jamaica’s football programme, Curacao Football Federation President Gilbert Martina says his counterparts are a model for the Caribbean. He says he intends to apply their expertise to improve Curacao’s standing in the region.

Curacao are relatively new to international football as they began their solo operation in 2011 following the 2010 dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles which included Aruba, Bonaire and Sint Maarten.

Curacao have been making strides in regional football after beating the Reggae Boyz to win the Caribbean Cup in 2017, which saw them jump as high as 68th in the Fifa world rankings. They also qualified for the knockout stages of the Concacaf Gold Cup for the first time, making the quarter-finals in 2019.

However, they’ve yet to qualify for the Fifa World Cup after unsuccessful attempts during the 2014, 2018 and 2022 campaigns.

But things are moving in the right direction this time around as Curacao are closer than ever to the global showpiece, particularly after their 2-0 win over the Boyz on Friday at the Ergilio Hato Stadium in their crucial Concacaf World Cup Qualifier. It moved them up to the top of Group B with seven points, overtaking the Jamaicans on six, which means they are now in control with three games remaining.

It could have been a much different qualifying story for Curacao but since noted businessman Martina stepped in as president of the federation earlier this year, a lot of major issues have been avoided.

“It has been a divine journey, because we started on April the 10th with a lot of challenges from financial perspectives, and from organisational perspectives so what we have been doing is solving those challenges in order to bring the calm, quietness and structure so the national team can perform,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“I come from the financial sector. I have a very wide network based on trust so what I have done is, I have knocked on the doors of my partners, of friends in the financial sector. Corendon Airlines, for example, is our largest sponsor, sponsoring in-kind travel and accommodation. And that’s how I have done it, knocking on doors of trusted partners in the financial sector, and I have to say that most of them have answered my knocking with a yes.”

The federation has also revived their national football league, which hasn’t been in competition for nearly three years.

With the Jamaica Premier League viewed as the best in the Caribbean, Martina says he will be looking to follow that example to strengthen football on his island.

“I always say, ‘You don’t have to reinvent something that has already been done,’ ” he said.

“So I have very close contact with Jamaican officials. Howard McIntosh, Horace Reid are my friends — personal friends — so it’s one phone call away for me to fly to Jamaica, sit with the federation, and learn how they have developed the local football in the professional league — because that’s definitely something that we can use here in Curacao.”

Martina isn’t only looking to duplicate organisational but also technical expertise as he admires the style of Jamaican football.

“Jamaica is known for the strength and the velocity, very physical team — we don’t have players with that strength physically,” he said.

“We have players that are very technical — because all of the players have been educated in Holland, the Dutch football school — so I admire Jamaica football. I admire the strength, I admire the speed, and those things are things that we definitely can use and learn from for our national team.”

With only the group winners of the final round of Concacaf World Cup Qualifiers assured an automatic spot to next summer’s tournament, Curacao will be looking to keep hold of their current position as they take on Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday, while the second-place Boyz host Bermuda at the National Stadium in Kingston.

It will be Curacao’s second-consecutive home game, and their tens of thousands in home support can witness them move up to 10 points, which would put them a step closer to history.

Martina believes, like Jamaica in 1998, qualifying will be a seismic shift in the country’s culture.

“I think you know the feeling because Jamaica has qualified once for the World Cup. It will be something out of this world because [of] the hope and inspiration that that achievement will bring, not only for the national team but for the youngsters,” he said.

“We have done and we are doing everything we can do but at the end it’s the universe, God, the divine power that decides which team will step out of the pitch as a winner — and I hope it will be to our side this time.”

MARTINA… it’s one phone call away for me to fly to Jamaica, sit with the federation, and learn how they have developed the local football

Tyreece Campbell (centre) of Jamaica gets to the ball ahead of teammate Ian Fray (left) and Joshua Brenet of Curacao during the Fifa World Cup Qualifier at Ergilio Hato Stadium in Willemstad on Friday, October 10, 2025. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

A section of the stands during the World Cup Qualifier between Curacao and Jamaica at Ergilio Hato Stadium in Willemstad on Friday, October 10, 2025. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)