Curacao goalkeeper Eloy Room is eyeing a statue in his honour after equalling a World Cup record in the goalless draw with Ecuador last night.
Room made 15 saves to match Tim Howard’s mark achieved for the United States against Belgium in 2014.
The 37-year-old was in inspired form as Curacao, a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, secured their first point of the tournament after bouncing back well from the 7-1 thrashing by Germany in their opener.
“It’s going to be an insane memory,” Room said. “You don’t think about it when you do it, but of course it’s going to be something you look back to. For me as a goalkeeper, this is almost a perfect game.”
He added with a smile: ”I think I need a statue in Curaçao now.”
Tim Howard must have been sweating, says Curacao star Room
Room made the most saves in World Cup history in a game that did not go to extra-time, denying Ecuador a much-needed win.
“A little bit annoyed that I don’t have the record from Tim Howard, but I think he was sweating in front of the TV because I was close,” said Room.
“But no, it’s unbelievable. And I cannot do it alone. I did it with the team and my defenders and the midfielders, strikers. We did it as a team.”
Ecuador had an xG of over three but could not find a way past Room with Curacao boss Dick Advocaat hailing his players for a remarkable result.
“You know how far we’ve come, basically from nothing,” Advocaat said. “And then you come here and play an away match in front of 60,000 people and draw 0-0. All you can feel is pride at how far we’ve come.
“The first match affected me much more because we lost 7-1. Yet the supporters welcomed our players with incredible enthusiasm. Normally, after a result like that, you get booed. Instead, the exact opposite happened.
“Today, you saw the team give something back to those supporters. I thought that was a beautiful moment.”
Curacao stalemate jeopardises Ecuador’s hopes
While Curacao celebrated with the King and Queen of the Netherlands in the dressing room afterwards, Ecuador were left to reflect on a potentially damaging result.
Sebastián Beccacece’s side, who were defeated by the Ivory Coast in their opener, will now have to beat Germany to stand a chance of going through.
“In football, there are things that simply can’t be explained,” Beccacece said. “The result speaks for itself, so anything else I say could sound like an excuse. Today, we had to win, and we didn’t.”
