World Cup fever has encapsulated the entire country as Israelis are all cheering on their favorites whether it’s Brazil, Argentina, France or England, every one has a national team that they think will win it all. But along with some of the powerhouses there are also some minnows as well and this is especially true since the tournament expanded from 32 to 48 teams.

Countries such as Haiti, Cape Verde, Jordan and Uzbekistan all qualified for the competition along with Curacao which is one of the few teams that also has a representative from the Israeli league as well in Maccabi Haifa winger Kenji Gorre.

The 31-year old Spijkenisse native was born in the Netherlands but is able to play for Curacao due to his mother and could have also suited up for Suriname due to his father. In fact, Gorre could have also been eligible to represent England as he engaged in a minimum of five years of education under the age of 18 within the territory of the relevant association.

However, Gorre chose to play for Curacao for which he has made 33 appearances and scored 6 goals having made his debut back in 2019 against Jamaica in the Gold Cup. Now, with a chance to play on the biggest stage of them all, Curacao will feature in Group E and will take on the likes of former champion Germany, Ecuador and Ivory Coast the the delight of the Haifa supporters.

Just ahead of his his World Cup debut on Sunday against Die Mannschaft (the team), Gorre spoke about the upcoming experience as well as his expectations and goals to the Official Maccabi Haifa website.

“It feels like a dream come true,” Gorre began. “You know, as a young boy, you dream about these moments and now it’s a reality. Playing on the biggest stage at the World Cup against Germany, four-time winners. We are looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to it for sure.”

Curacao and Gorre has already tasted some of the action ahead of their opener and will play in a variety of cities including Houston, Kansas City and Philadelphia while their training camp has been in Florida, “The atmosphere is amazing. I think we are really enjoying it all and taking it all in. We are now in Miami, Boca Raton and yeah, we’re enjoying it a lot.”

Although the chances are low for Curacao to get out of their group no less than perhaps even winning a game, Gorre explained that they have a ton of belief that they can do something special but in fact just having the opportunity to be able to participate in the World Cup is the biggest accomplishment of them all.

“Our faith is our foundation. Yeah, we pray every morning and before the games too just to centre ourselves, just to make sure that we understand that this is bigger than football. We thank God that we are able to play football and do what we love to do, but also that we have breath in our lungs because, you know, every day is not promised.

So we centre ourselves to know that it’s bigger than an event. It’s bigger than a moment. It is life and we are grateful for life and we’re grateful that God has put us in this position as well. Prayer has been a lot of giving us a lot of fuel, a lot of perspective as well and it’s something that we love. So the family is not with us.”

Gorre’s family may not be with them right now, but they certainly won’t miss the opportunity to see Kenji live and in person when they take to the pitch at NRG Stadium, “My wife and children are in Manchester at the moment. They are coming to the game in Houston against Germany on Sunday. But after that, they’ll be coming back with us.”

Dean Gorre, Kenji’s father is the head coach of Curacao’s Under-20 Team and is part of Dick Advocaat’s staff for the World Cup which makes being part of the team even more exciting but he’s also getting plenty of support from the Haifa fans as well.

“My dad is the coach here, so I do get to see him every day. Had some amazing, amazing messages from the Maccabi Haifa fans and they’ve really been encouraging me, showing their belief in me and their trust in me as well. It really does a lot, so I wanted to thank all the people that messaged and all the people that have been sending good, good spirits and good energy to us here as well. We appreciate it.”

Gorre, had been knocked up a bit as the league season came to an end, but is back and can;t wait to go, “I’m fully ready. I’ve been training back with the group fully. So really grateful about that, that I get to now be ready and fully fit for the World Cup.”

Curacao doesn’t want to just be a wallflower and really would like to make an impact which is what the ultimate goal is, “Can we take points? For sure we can take points. I think there is more chance of us taking points than us qualifying for the World Cup. So I think now we’re going with full belief, full faith that we can make it happen.”

As for the favorites to win, Gorre is realistic and knows full well that Curacao will not be the champion, “That’s a tough one. Who do I think is the favorite to win? I think, to be honest with you, I think it has to be France. With the squad depth that they have, with the players that they have as well, I think they’re probably favorites to win it.”

After each game, the players swap jerseys and Gorre has an idea or two of whose he would like to get, “I think, for me, it’s going to be amazing to swap shirts with one of my close friends from Felix Nmecha for Germany, I’m really close with him. So it will be amazing to get his shirt after the game, for a memory forever.”

Many national teams have songs and Curacao is no different Gorre said, “So a song that we’ll take into the World Cup with us is basically the song Mama Wak and it goes like this; Mama Wak, Mama Wak, Wak, Wak, Wak. It basically says, Mom look, Mom look. Look mom how far I’ve come. Look how far, from young to where I am now. Look how we made it. That’s the heart of the song, we love it and we sing it every day.”