Curacao coach Remko Bicentini wants Crystal Palace defender Patrick van Aanholt to represent the Caribbean island. Aston Villa’s Leandro Bacuna and Southampton’s Cuco Martina are current players for Curacao.
Voetbal Primeur have reported Bicentini wants to improve his squad and is looking at players born in the Netherlands, with Curacao heritage. One of those players is Van Aanholt, due to the Crystal Palace star’s parents coming from the Dutch Caribbean island.
The Dutch media outlet explains that despite representing the Netherlands at senior level Van Aanholt only played in friendlies and not in a competitive game. This means he’s still eligible to play for Curacao in the same way his Crystal Palace teammate Wilfried Zaha did with the Ivory Coast in January, after already playing for England in friendly.
Aston Villa’s Bacuna is another player who was been recruited by Curaco despite not being born on the island. The Groningen born defender has parents of Curacaoan descent, and the player has gone on to be one of the island’s star players since making his debut last year.
Bacuna will be thankful for Curacao’s two upcoming friendlies after recently being hit with a six match ban whilst playing for Aston Villa. Bicentini will also be hoping he has the player at his disposal, with the right back scoring four goals in six games for his side.
