Gilbert Martina, President of the Curaçao Football Federation
October 8, 2025
WILLEMSTAD, Curacao — Curacao Football Federation president Gilbert Martina has praised the success of the Jamaican football program and hopes his team can replicate it in the future.
Curacao will host the Reggae Boyz on Friday at the Ergilio Hato Stadium in their crucial Concacaf World Cup qualifier.
In terms of ranking, Curacao would be considered an underdog since Jamaica is seventh in Concacaf and 69th in the world, compared to Curacao 12th in Concacaf and 84th in the world.
Although they have not qualified for the World Cup since 1998, Jamaica have been the most successful Caribbean team with multiple Concacaf Gold Cup final appearances as well as top finishes in the Concacaf Nations League.
Martina says he wants to see some of the best attributes of the Reggae Boyz reflected in the Curacao program in the future.
“Jamaica are known for their strength and their philosophy, a very physical team,” he told the Jamaica Observer. “We don’t have players with that kind of physique. We have very technical players because all the players were trained in the Netherlands, the Dutch football school.”
“So I admire Jamaican football, I admire the strength, I admire the speed and those are things that we can definitely use and definitely learn from for our national team.”
The Reggae Boyz lead the group with six points, while Curaçao are second by two points. A victory for Jamaica would put them on the verge of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup, but a win for Curacao would propel them to the top of the table with three games remaining.
Only the group winner is guaranteed a place in next summer’s competition in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
-Daniel Blake
