Ecuador knocked at Curacao‘s door over and over again but somehow could not find a way through.
The game might have ended 0-0, but there were plenty of goalscoring opportunities. Not just for La Tri who attempted a whopping 27 shots with 21 of them being from inside the box. But also for the Blue Wave who had decent chances in transition.
However, it feels like neither side were meant to score. Goalkeepers Hernan Galindez and especially Eloy Room were inspired and made sure their countries left the game with a clean sheet. So let’s start there.
How did Curacao survive against Ecuador?
Goalkeepers shine
Where else to begin, of course, than Eloy Room’s record-breaking display. Curacao’s goalkeeper made a stunning 15 saves against Ecuador – the most in a World Cup game that did not go to extra time. Tim Howard famously made 16 stops against Belgium, but across 120 minutes.
Not only that, but he recorded 2.48 goals prevented – the most by any goalkeeper in a single match this World Cup by quite some margin.
The 37-year-old surpassed Patrick Beach’s 1.46 against Turkey and Vozinha’s 1.45 against Spain. Unlike the two European nations, Ecuador actually had multiple quality chances to score and kill the game off.
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That’s not to say that Curacao didn’t have their turn. For a few periods, they had a lot of transition opportunities and high turnovers that led to dangerous situations. One in particular actually came in the only time they had a chance to establish themselves in the attacking half.
They wasted no time in taking several bodies forward and took three shots in the span of 10 seconds, forcing two great saves from Hernan Galindez.
Room prevented 2.48 goals from 15 saves, an average of 0.17 xGOT per shot on targed faced. But Galindez prevented 0.93 goals from just three saves – an average of 0.31 xGOT per shot on target faced. The Blue Wave’s attacks were few and far between, but did make La Tri work for their clean sheet.
Enner Valencia’s off day
Eloy Room had an incredible game, but part of that was more Enner Valencia’s responsibility.
The former West Ham striker missed a whopping four big chances, twice as many as any other player in a single game this World Cup.
The worst part is that the best goalscoring opportunity he wasted was the first one, in the 3rd minute. One-on-one with Eloy Room, all the time in the world to choose where to place the ball, and he fires straight at the keeper.
That goal would have conditioned the rest of the match and put La Tri in a much better position to win.
Not only because they would have had the advantage then and there, but because it would force the Blue Wave to charge forward and offer even more space than they already did in their defensive approach.
Which is actually a perfect segway into our next topic of discussion.
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Curacao’s paradoxical defensive scheme
Curacao made the game against Ecuador enjoyable for the average viewer because of Dick Advocaat’s tactical choices.
They were aggressive without the ball and pressed more than anyone would have imagined. There was a lot of ‘biting’ whoever had the ball, which had a negative effect by leaving loads of spaces between the lines.
Advocaat set his team in a zonal and narrow 5-2-3 out of possession. It actually favoured Ecuador’s positional look that had Gonzalo Plata and Pedro Vite occupying the gap between Curacao’s defence and midfield.
But it was precisely that narrow look that often forced La Tri into playing down the wings, which was the best-case scenario for the Blue Wave. Pervis Estupinan had a poor individual performance and John Yeboah spent a lot of time isolated on the right-hand side.
All of that changed when Sebastian Beccacece introduced a proper left-winger to play as left-wing-back (Sunderland’s Nilson Angulo) and an attacking-minded right-back to link up with Yeboah (Angelo Preciado).
But that just made them switch focus from the central corridor to the wide flanks. Ecuador also tasted a bit of success in set pieces and resorted to wide plays and crosses into the box from the 80th minute onwards.
So Curacao’s narrow and zonal defending was the thing leading Ecuador away from what they wanted to do the most but also giving them plenty of opportunities to find skillful players in dangerous positions. And they also forced a few high turnovers – though most of them were gifted.
In the end, the South Americans certainly did enough to leave Kansas City with three points and second place in Group E. Now, however, they will need a win against Germany to have real chances of advancing.
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