MIAMI, Florida – The Concacaf region currently has an abundance of riches when it comes to top goalkeepers. Costa Rica’s Keylor Navas is a three-time winner of the UEFA Champions League, Mexico’s Guillermo Ochoa has been a FIFA World Cup hero for El Tricolor and winner of the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup Golden Glove.
There is also Jamaica’s Andre Blake, who won the 2017 Gold Cup Golden Glove and is currently one of the best GKs in the 2021 edition of the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League with the Philadelphia Union.
Perhaps he does not attract as much attention as the aforementioned GKs, but there is no question that Curacao GK Eloy Room certainly belongs in the conversation of elite Concacaf GKs.
Room’s first Gold Cup came in Curacao’s debut in the competition in 2017, but it was in the 2019 tournament when he started to truly turn heads. Room secured his first ever Gold Cup clean sheet in Curacao’s first ever Gold Cup victory, a 1-0 final against Honduras in Houston, Texas.
Room was sensational in the match, making a number of top-notch saves to deny the likes of Alberth Elis, Alex Lopez, Michaell Chirinos and Maynor Figueroa to earn his side the three points.
After giving up just three goals in four matches in the 2019 Gold Cup, there were plenty of looks from clubs in the Concacaf region and the one to secure his signature was Columbus Crew SC of Major League Soccer, signing Room two years ago.
The 32-year-old left European football where he was a member of Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven and has been a mainstay in the Columbus XI since, helping the team win 2020 MLS Cup, while also earning MLS Save of the Year honors in 2020.
His form has been just as good with Curacao since that 2019 Gold Cup, with two clean sheets in their group in League A of the Concacaf Nations League and four clean sheets in Concacaf World Cup Qualifying for Qatar 2022.
Suffice to say, Curacao will be in very good hands with Room when the 2021 Gold Cup kicks off.
