The German national team faces Curaçao at the World Cup opener on Sunday. Their right-back, Joshua Brenet, has a history of convictions for various offenses and a specific past with Julian Nagelsmann.
Curaçao is a unique World Cup participant in many ways. With a population of only around 156,000, the Caribbean island is the smallest nation ever to qualify for a final tournament. However, the official population figure is somewhat misleading, as national coach Dick Advocaat (at 78 years old, the oldest in World Cup history, incidentally) can draw from a significantly larger pool of national players.
As a former colony, Curaçao remains part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, yet possesses extensive autonomy within it. Over the years, thousands of Curaçaoans have emigrated to the Netherlands. Their descendants form the backbone of the national team, recognized by FIFA since 2010. In fact, only one of the 26 players in the World Cup squad was born in Curaçao. This is Tahith Chong, arguably the most internationally known.
Chong once made the leap to the professionals at Manchester United, playing a total of 16 competitive matches before an unsuccessful half-year stint at Werder Bremen in 2021. The midfielder, now playing for Sheffield United, is one of six squad members with a past in Germany. Gervane Kastaneer previously played for 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Riechedly Bazoer for VfL Wolfsburg, Roshon van Eijma for Preußen Münster, and Jürgen Locadia and Joshua Brenet for TSG Hoffenheim.
Julian Nagelsmann Suspended Joshua Brenet at Hoffenheim
Right-back Brenet joined Hoffenheim from PSV Eindhoven in 2018 for 3.5 million euros, partly at the behest of current national coach Julian Nagelsmann. He was a three-time Eredivisie champion and a two-time Dutch international. At TSG, however, Brenet proved to be an expensive flop. After sitting on the bench for the first Bundesliga games following his transfer, he skipped a video session before Hoffenheim’s very first Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk, after which Nagelsmann dropped him from the squad.
Nagelsmann later pardoned Brenet, but he only managed irregular appearances for the rest of the season. His successor, Alfred Schreuder, now incidentally Nagelsmann’s assistant coach at the DFB, found no use for him at all. Sebastian Hoeneß eventually sent him to the reserves in the fourth-tier Regionalliga Südwest. Brenet repeatedly caused disciplinary issues, such as chronic lateness. Hoffenheim found no buyer for him until he moved to Twente Enschede on a free transfer in 2022.
«It Seems to Me He’s Continuing to Play Football After a Red Card»
There, he regained his form on the pitch but completely sidelined himself off it. In January 2023, Brenet was caught driving without a license twice within just two weeks. He had lost it in 2020 due to drunk driving.
«He apparently has no regard for the authorities. It seems to me he’s continuing to play football after a red card,» commented the responsible judge, sentencing Brenet to a one-month prison sentence in 2024. Back in 2021, he had already been convicted of domestic violence and received a fine and probation with community service. The prison sentence for driving without a license was converted to community service on appeal, but Twente nonetheless terminated his contract.
Brenet then signed with Al-Rayyan in Qatar, but only played six games there in the 2024/25 season. Last autumn, he played for Livingston FC in Scotland, and in the second half of the season for Kayserispor in Turkey. Now, he is participating in the World Cup with Curaçao. Although Brenet played numerous games for various Dutch youth national teams and even appeared in World Cup qualifiers for the Oranje in 2016, FIFA granted him a special dispensation to play for his parents’ homeland.
Since his Curaçao debut in 2024, Brenet has achieved six scorer points in 17 games. In the World Cup dress rehearsal against Aruba, he was in the starting lineup at right-back and scored a goal. On Sunday at 7 PM, the now 32-year-old will face Germany with his team in the World Cup opener – and his former coaches Nagelsmann and Schreuder.