Middlesbrough star Sontje Hansen has been named in the Curacao squad for their first ever World Cup finals appearance.

A moment of history will be made on Sunday night when Caribbean nation Curacao make their World Cup finals debut against a Germany side containing some of world football’s biggest names.

For Middlesbrough star Sontje Hansen, the game represents an opportunity to move on from the disappointment of missing out on promotion into the Premier League and to shine on the biggest stage world football has to offer. The former Ajax and NEC Nijmegen forward made 20 appearances in all competitions last season and appeared as a substitute for the final quarter of an hour of the play-off final defeat against Hull City after he was brought off the bench to replace the injured Riley McGree.

Hansen’s full focus is now on a historic World Cup appearance with Curacao as The Blue Wave prepare to face the likes of Ecuador and Ivory Coast in the group stage of the tournament. However, their maiden fixture will come against Germany, who are looking to become World Cup winners for the first time since 2014 when they saw off Argentina in the final.

Facing the likes of Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala may seem like a daunting prospect for a side representing a nation of just 158,000 residents - but Hansen has stressed his team-mates must believe they can pull off a similar shock to the one Argentina experienced when they were beaten by Saudi Arabia four years ago.

Speaking ahead of Sunday night’s opener, the Boro star said: "I'm going to give everything. It's a really big stage and against Germany we will give our everything and see what happens. For me I'm just going to enjoy it and hope we do well. You know what the thing is, we are from the Caribbean and I grew up in Holland. The difference is we have nothing. Sometimes you see when Saudi Arabia beat Argentina, sometimes you just need luck. There you go."

Your next Middlesbrough read: Hartlepool United linked with Halifax star striker Will Harris plus Lee Cattermole linked with Gateshead role