eye witness
ARUBA
Football on Aruba has been shaped by myriad influences. Politically, the Caribbean island is a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, its old colonial masters. Dutch is spoken, but Spanish more widely due to large influxes of South American immigrants. Colombians seeking refuge from the 1990s drug wars were followed by Venezuelans escaping their imploding economy, but the overwhelming influence comes from North America.
A century ago, the Lago Oil Refinery opened on Aruba’s southern tip and Americans flooded in. Now closed for over a decade, the refinery sits rusting on the outskirts of San Nicholas, Aruba’s second-largest city, but the US still wields significant power. Tourists, predominantly from the US east coast, flock to the pristine beaches and provide 80 per cent of the island’s income. The dollar is used as commonly as the Aruban Florin and baseball casts a long shadow over Aruban sport. Five Arubans have played Major League Baseball recently with Xander Bogaerts winning the World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2013 – heights that the island’s football players can only dream of.
While the island boasts the well-appointed JoeLaveist baseball park in San Nicholas, Aruba’s national football side were not even able to play at home between 2016 and 2023 as the Guillermo Prospero Trinidad Stadium in the capital of Oranjestad fell short ofFIFA’scriteria. Now, after decades languishing in the shadows not just ofbaseball but of the footballing growth in the neighbouring Dutch Caribbean island ofCuracao, the game in Aruba isshowing signs of stirring.
“The Nations League is the best thing that has happened to CONCACAF football, particularly for the small islands like Aruba,” says Randolf Lacle, who after years in various functions at the Aruban Football Federation (AVB), including secretary, took over aspresident inJuly 2021.
“When Iwas first involved wewould play a qualifier and after two games we would be out, then there was along wait for the next game. This year, wewill play nine matches. When Istarted, it could take us five or six years to play that many matches. With the Nations League, now our national team can be an entity that we can sell.”
That selling comes on two fronts. While Oranjestad’s shops and markets offer football shirts from around the world, including aSaudi Arabian club shirt courtesy of Cristano Ronaldo’s role at Al Nassr, there is no sign of an Aruban jersey.
There isalso another type of sales pitch –for players. While Curacao has recruited legendary Dutch coach Dick Advocaat as manager to attract big-name player
