The smallest nation ever to qualify for the FIFA World Cup has recorded a historic inaugural point.
Football minnows Curaçao — a tiny island nation located at the southern end of the Caribbean — have shocked Ecuador with a 0-0 draw in Kansas City on Sunday (AEST).
Veteran goalkeeper Eloy Room made 15 saves in what was a heroic performance — just one shy of the record 16 set by American Tim Howard in an extra-time loss to Belgium in 2014 since saves became an official World Cup stat in 1966.
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He acted as a one-man barrier on Saturday, with Dick Advocaat’s brave side bouncing back from their 7-1 thrashing by Germany in their opening game.
“A boulder in the sea has a point at the World Cup!” Mike Watts said on commentary for SBS.
“Curaçao has shocked Ecuador. A nil-nil draw in Kansas City.
“An extraordinary point for Dick Advocaat. A historic performance for Eloy Room.”
The point, a historic result for a tiny nation with just 158,000 people, keeps their unlikely hopes of advancing through Group E alive and they will progress to the knockout stages if they can somehow beat Ivory Coast in their final match.
It was all down to a monumental performance from Room, whose shutout of Jamaica last November sent Curacao to their first World Cup.
He was in action from as early as the third minute when he denied Enner Valencia with a brilliant save.
Room was on a one-man mission as he kept out Gonzalo Plata’s effort while again denying Valencia with an impressive low stop.
Curacao had their moments, with former Manchester United midfielder Tahith Chong wasting a three-on-two situation while Juninho Bacuna had a shot blocked in the penalty area.
Advocaat’s men had a triple chance to take the lead on the hour as Ecuador goalkeeper Hernan Galindez made a good double stop to deny Leandro Bacuna and Livano Comenencia before Moises Caicedo blocked Jurgen Locadia’s follow-up effort.
But Room continued to keep his side in it as he denied Valencia and Kevin Rodriguez before Piero Hincapie sent a free header over and Plata somehow missed after bursting into the area.
Rodriguez then hit the crossbar with a cross-shot, but Room was the hero as the Caribbean nation held on for a historic result.
– with AAP and The AP
