Eloy Room stood between Ecuador and a win they deserved by almost every measure, and in the end he denied them entirely. Room made 15 saves at Arrowhead Stadium as Curaçao held Ecuador to a goalless draw in Group E, a result that leaves both sides on one point after two matches and glancing nervously at the table above them.
Ecuador generated an expected goals figure of 3.06, launched 28 shots, and had 75 per cent of the ball. They got nothing. That is not misfortune so much as a one-man act of sabotage from a goalkeeper who was barely tested in the first World Cup match of his career and simply refused to be beaten. Room was, by some distance, the story of the evening.
Sebastian Beccacece set his side up in a 3-1-4-2 with Moisés Caicedo anchoring ahead of the back three, and Ecuador's attacking intent was evident from the start. Gonzalo Plata and John Yeboah worked the wide channels relentlessly, and Enner Valencia led the line with the authority of a man who understands what this tournament means to his country. The problem was always the same: Room.
Dick Advocaat's Curaçao, deployed in a disciplined 5-4-1, had no ambition to play their way out of their own half. That is not a criticism, it is a tactical reality. They earned zero corner kicks. Their xG stood at 0.48. Jürgen Locadia, isolated in front of the Ecuadorian back three, had little to work with, and the midfield four spent the match tracking runners rather than starting moves. Five yellow cards accumulated across the afternoon, the Bacuna brothers among the recipients, as the cynicism required to protect a narrow defensive shape eventually showed itself.
Jordy Alcivar picked up a booking before he was replaced at half-time, and with him went some of Ecuador's organisation in the pivot role. His exit did not blunt the attacking pressure but it nudged the shape slightly, and Pervis Estupiñán was also withdrawn before the hour was up, coming off at 70 minutes. Kevin Rodriguez came on and contributed across 48 minutes without finding a way through, while Nilson Angulo added fresh legs in the final quarter but the wall did not come down.
Alan Franco, solid in the back three throughout, was replaced at 83 minutes as Beccacece sought fresh energy, though by that point the draw was beginning to look like the likely outcome. Caicedo, as ever, covered ground that most midfielders would not bother to attempt, recycling possession and pressing Curaçao into errors that never quite became chances. Pedro Vite, on the left of midfield, was equally busy and equally thwarted.
The cruelty of the night was that Ecuador's defensive organisation deserved a clean sheet anyway. Hernán Galíndez was asked for three saves. The goals prevented figure attributed to his opposite number, 2.48, tells you that Room was the man preventing a comfortable victory rather than Galíndez performing miracles at the other end. Curaçao managed three shots on target in 93 minutes from outside the box and a handful inside it.
The group picture is sharp enough. Germany lead on six points after two wins. Ivory Coast sit second on three. Ecuador and Curaçao share a point each, and both now face the kind of calculation that concentrates minds in training sessions. Ecuador, who created enough to win three matches tonight, will feel the draw most acutely. They cannot afford another one.