Rotherham's Ar'Jany Martha ready to live out 'boyhood dream' at World Cup with Curacao
The tiny Caribbean island created history last month when they became the smallest country to ever reach the World Cup
Rotherham winger Ar'Jany Martha is ready to live out "every boy's dream" after helping Curacao qualify for the World Cup.
The tiny Caribbean island created history last month when they became the smallest country to ever reach the World Cup after finishing above Jamaica in their group.
The 22-year-old has also broken new ground for his club side after becoming the Millers' first current player to qualify for the world's biggest tournament.
Martha was born in the Netherlands and represented them at under-15, under-16 and under-19 level, having come through Ajax's fabled youth system.
But it was following his "mother's instinct" that has given him the chance of featuring in North America next summer.
"It's a great feeling. It's every boy's dream to qualify for a World Cup and go to play there. I feel great," the winger, who played 12 times for Ajax's first team in the 2023/24 season, said.
"Both my parents are from Curacao. Since I was three, I went on vacation there to visit family with my parents. I got to know everybody.
"I had a couple of conversations with my agent and my family and I decided to go with Curacao.
"I was thinking about it every day and then my mum said to me, 'Just go'.
"I always listen to my mother. The mother's instincts are always right, so the moment she told me, I said, 'OK, I'm going to do it'.
"When I was in the first team at Ajax I was looking at what was best for me and waiting for the Dutch squad to call me up to come and play for them or go to Curacao and play my games.
"I thought it was better to go to Curacao, to play for my home team and I did it."
It was a decision that paid off as Curacao, with a population of 156,000, upset the odds to qualify.
The island is in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, so, unsurprisingly, there are a large number of players of Dutch descent in the squad, managed by Dick Advocaat.
And with the draw taking place on Friday, Martha is desperate to be drawn against the country of his birth.
"I hope we play against the Netherlands," he said. "That would be crazy because we've got a lot of Dutch players who played in the Netherlands and we want to show them how good we are and what a team we are.
"We like fighting every single game and we're like one big family. You can see it in the results."
Martha, who joined the Millers from Belgian side Beerschot in the summer, will be the club's first ever current player to feature at a World Cup.
Six ex-players, including Emlyn Hughes and Peter Odemwingie, played at the tournament before or after their time in South Yorkshire.
Martha added: "I'm very proud. It's also something big for the club.
"I didn't even realise so I'm proud. I think everybody around me is proud too."