The wounds of a 7–1 thrashing by Germany in their first match were still raw. Facing them next, in the fight to survive on football’s grandest stage, were the Latin American power Ecuador. On such a daunting night at Kansas City Stadium, tiny Curaçao authored something of a fairy tale — and the lone hero was the team’s goalkeeper, Eloy Room. He single-handedly repelled wave after wave of Ecuadorean attacks, making an incredible 15 saves to force a goalless draw. With that, the Caribbean island nation earned its first, historic point in World Cup history.
Sunday morning’s match essentially turned into ‘Ecuador versus Eloy Room.’ With both sides having lost their opening games, the threat of elimination loomed over the fixture. From the start, Ecuador piled on the attacks, breaking down the Curaçao defence — but Room stood superhuman beneath the bar. His remarkable agility, positioning and assured goalkeeping repeatedly thwarted the Ecuadorean forwards.
Room alone stopped 15 Ecuador shots — just one short of the record for the most saves in a single World Cup match. At the 2014 World Cup, former US goalkeeper Tim Howard made 16 saves against Belgium.
After the historic draw, Ecuador and Curaçao each have 1 point in Group E. Ahead on goal difference, Ecuador sit third and Curaçao fourth. But the single point keeps both in the knockout race. In their final group game on June 25, Ecuador face a strong Germany, while history-makers Curaçao take on Ivory Coast the same day.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report