Eloy Room: Give me a statue!


Eloy Room joked that he wants a statue after his record-breaking performance for Curaçao against Ecuador. Room made no fewer than 15 saves, helping Curaçao frustrate Ecuador with a 0-0 draw at the Kansas City Stadium. His number of saves is the highest in a World Cup match (since 1966) that did not go to extra time. Tim Howard made 15 saves against Belgium for the United States in 2014, but that game lasted 120 minutes. Room is the fifth CONCACAF goalkeeper in the past 50 years to record nine or more saves in a single World Cup match, joining Mexico's Guillermo Ochoa and Americans Tony Meola, Howard and Brad Friedel. The 37-year-old now expects special treatment in Curaçao. "It means everything, it feels like a victory, it's the first point at the World Cup, it means everything," he said. "It's surreal, the journey from where we came from to now being here, and showing that we really have heart, it's an incredible feeling. I knew I had made a lot of saves. I know it's a record from a long time ago, so I'm really proud. What a performance from Curaçao's goalkeeper Eloy Room, who made 15 saves against Ecuador. It's the highest number of shots on target that a goalkeeper has received in a men's World Cup on record (since 1966) while keeping a clean sheet. "It was a really good feeling. My first save gave me confidence, I knew it would be a busy race. I'm a little disappointed because we had chances to score. For us this feels like a victory. I think I'll remember this in 40 years, it'll be insane. I think I need a statue in Curacao now." Ecuador's tally of 15 shots on target is the most for a CONMEBOL country in a World Cup match since 1966, and the second highest in this century, behind Belgium's 17 against the US in 2014. Sebastian Beccacece's team registered 3.05 expected goals, the highest for a team that did not score in this World Cup match, and 1.7 xG came from shots from Enner Valencia, also the highest number of expected goals for a single player without scoring so far in this tournament. Ecuador are third in Group E ahead of their clash with Germany, and Beccacece has not given up hope of advancing to the knockout stages despite his team not scoring so far "Life has taught me that you always have to keep working, always learn, and that challenges can become opportunities," said Beccacece, whose team was unbeaten in 19 games pain, to feel this disappointment, but this is not over yet. We still have 100 minutes ahead of us, and we're going to be there in a good way to achieve our goals. There are things you can't explain in football. Whatever I say may be counterproductive. We wanted to win. We didn't do that. I am the one who bears the responsibility. “The team deserves more than what they got.”

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