Curacao goalkeeper Elory Room delivered a historic performance overnight, between Saturday and Sunday, in the World Cup match against Ecuador, helping his team earn its first ever World Cup point with a 0-0 draw. The 37-year-old made 15 saves, the most ever in a 90-minute World Cup match, and was named man of the match after a display described as legendary.
The outing also triggered a massive surge in his social-media following. Room had about 100,000 Instagram followers before kickoff, jumped to 500,000 after the final whistle, and had passed 700,000 by the time of publication. The article says the number is expected to keep rising as more football fans learn about his performance.
Room plays for Miami FC in the U.S. second division. The piece draws a parallel to another recent World Cup sensation, Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha, 40, whose followers rose from 50,000 to nearly 15 million after a 0-0 draw with Spain.
Former Mexico star Javier Hernández, known as Chicharito, praised Room on Fox Sports, saying, “Room deserves all the attention. He was the man of the match.” The article also notes that the overall World Cup record for saves in a match including extra time belongs to former U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard, who made 16 against Belgium in 2014.
