Germany’s opening opponent at the World Cup in North America is worried about one of its strikers ahead of the tournament. Jürgen Locadia is well known in Germany as well.
For Curacao, Germany’s first opponent at the World Cup on June 14 in Houston, the friendly match in Scotland ended not only with a clear 1-4 defeat. Striker Jürgen Locadia’s red card could have consequences beyond the 90 minutes.
The key moment of the match occurred just before the halftime whistle. Locadia had initially been shown a yellow card after a hard tackle on Scottish defender Aaron Hickey. Following the intervention of the video assistant referee, Georgian referee Georgi Kikacheishvili changed his decision to a straight red card (38th minute).
TV footage showed that Locadia not only stepped on Hickey’s foot during the incident but also struck him in the chin with his right elbow. Curacao now faces a tense wait. Locadia, who previously played for Bochum and Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga, faces potential repercussions because: In cases of longer suspensions due to a serious foul or violent conduct, the suspension can be extended beyond friendly and warm-up matches to include official competitive matches. In Locadia’s case, that would be the World Cup.
The forward from the U.S. second-division club Miami FC could miss the opener against the German national team. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee, which has broad discretion, will decide on the penalty. Curaçao will play one more friendly before the World Cup begins, at home on June 7 against the neighboring island of Aruba.
Advocaat voices criticism
Dick Advocaat criticized the referee’s decision after the final whistle. “A good referee would have said: Take him off and bring on another player. Now we have to wait and see what happens with regard to the World Cup,” said the Curacao national team coach.
However, Advocaat was also able to take away a positive lesson from Scotland. Until the red card, his team put in a very promising performance. The experiment with a three-man defense instead of the usual back four was a success. Former Bremen player Tahith Chong (Sheffield United) even put the World Cup debutants ahead. “We did very well until the sending-off. With one man down, it became a different game; we could only defend,” Advocaat said.
