Overview
- In a 0-0 draw with Ecuador on Saturday in Kansas City, Eloy Room made 15 saves to set the record for most saves in a World Cup match by a keeper who finished with a clean sheet.
- Room was voted man of the match and saw his public profile surge with a large jump in social followers and postgame comments that he will keep Ecuador’s shirt as a memento.
- Coverage compared Room’s 15 saves to Tim Howard’s 16 saves in 2014, noting Howard’s total came after extra time while Room’s came in the 90 minutes.
- Curaçao’s point keeps the debuting nation mathematically alive in Group E and sends them into the final group fixture against Ivory Coast with a win needed to advance to the round of 16.
- Room, a 37-year-old Miami FC goalkeeper born in Nijmegen who joined Curaçao’s team in 2015 after recruitment by Patrick Kluivert, received personal congratulations that included a reported locker-room visit from the Dutch monarchs, a symbolic moment for the island.