Curacao goalkeeper Eloy Room made a record-breaking 15 saves to earn his country their first World Cup point by holding Ecuador 0-0 in Group E.
Room, 37, set a new record for the most saves in 90 minutes of a World Cup match since records began in 1966, with an impressive display, keeping alive the hopes of the 81st-ranked team in the world and a crowd of 158,000 despite a 7-1 opener against Germany.
Ecuador, hotly tipped to enter the competition after a promising qualifying campaign, had 27 shots, producing an xG of 3.05, but had yet another clean sheet after losing 1-0 to Ivory Coast and now must beat table-toppers Germany to progress.
Enner Valencia was the most wasteful of Ecuador’s forwards with seven shots, denied by Room’s best save in just the third minute when he was clear on goal before Gonzalo Plata had his close range header beaten by the unbeatable goalkeeper on a stunning night in Kansas.
Key moments from Kansas…
-
3: SAVE BIG! The Curacao Room keeper denied Valencia with a fine save.
-
69: ROOM AGAIN! Plata’s header from a near corner was well thought out by the keeper.
-
60: DOULE LINDISA! But NOT from the Room as Curacao were denied a shock lead.
-
79: THE ROOM MAKES HISTORY! Angulo’s pildriver outside the box is covered by Room for his fifteenth cash.
-
90: GET OUT OF THE BUSH! Ecuador substitute Preciado sees his cross hit the crossbar.
Who is Eloy Room?
Room plays for second-tier Miami FC in the USL Championship, having signed for the club in December last year.
The 37-year-old won the Eredivisie title with PSV in the 2017/18 season and before that spent most of his time at Vitesse, where he made more than 250 appearances on two occasions.
After PSV, he signed for MLS team Columbus Crew in 2019, playing 102 times, winning the MLS Save of the Year and the MLS Cup.
The hero’s room…
Save after save!
Ecuadraw on the edge
Sky Sports’ David Richardson:
The issue with Ecuador’s qualifying campaign has been their repeated reliance on 0-0 draws, a trend that threatens to end with an ignominious exit from the group stage.
Amad Diallo’s last-minute winner denied the Ivory Coast in the opening game, after recording eight in 18 qualifying matches. Even their 1-0 win over Argentina, which ended their qualifying campaign, came after four consecutive 0-0 draws.
That pattern has continued. In their eight friendlies prior to this tournament, they have drawn five. Sebastian Beccacece’s side have struggled for goals, often stealing wins with the odd goal and relying heavily on Enner Valencia, who has 49 goals in 107 games. The next highest scorer is Gonzalo Plata with eight.
To manage a 0-0 draw despite conceding 27 shots against a team ranked 81st in the world is quite an achievement in itself. Beating Germany to reach the knockout stage would be huge.
