世界杯：门将神勇扑救十五次，小国库拉索零比零逼平厄瓜多尔

Today we're going to talk about a very special World Cup match.

This match is Ecuador versus Curaçao.

Let's give the result first: the two teams drew zero to zero, neither scoring.

You might think: isn't a zero-zero boring?

Actually no — this zero-zero was especially thrilling.

Because it told the story of a small team.

Let's first talk about the two teams.

Ecuador comes from South America and is a capable team.

They play the World Cup often, and their players are quite good.

Curaçao, meanwhile, is a very, very small place.

Curaçao is in the Caribbean Sea, a very small island.

It has very few people — fewer than many cities.

So for Curaçao to come play the World Cup is itself a miracle.

A "miracle" is something almost impossible that actually happens.

They say Curaçao is one of the least populous teams in World Cup history.

For such a small place to share a pitch with the world's strong teams is already remarkable.

Here's another interesting thing: Curaçao's head coach is a very old, veteran manager.

He's vastly experienced, has coached many teams, and this time brought Curaçao to the World Cup.

Before the match, almost everyone thought Ecuador would win easily.

People even worried whether Curaçao would lose a lot of goals and look bad.

As the match began, Ecuador attacked constantly.

They kept the ball at their feet, pushing forward again and again.

Crosses, shots, corners — Ecuador used every method there is.

They just wanted to score quickly and win the match.

But Curaçao defended too well.

The whole team dropped back, protecting their goal together.

Every one of them fought hard, and no one gave up.

Ecuador tried again and again, yet just couldn't score.

Here, we absolutely must talk about one person.

He is Curaçao's goalkeeper.

A goalkeeper is the person who stands in front of the goal, specially to block shots.

Today, this goalkeeper was simply incredible.

Ecuador's shots flew at the goal time and again.

He dived out time and again, keeping the ball out.

Some shots were fast and tricky, and he stopped them too.

They say he made fifteen saves in this match in all.

Fifteen!

That's a truly astonishing number.

You should know that in a single match, making five or six saves is already impressive.

For one man to make fifteen saves is simply hard to believe.

With each save, Curaçao's fans shouted in excitement.

It was precisely because of him that Ecuador couldn't break through at all.

And so the match ticked by, minute by minute.

Ecuador grew more and more anxious, yet still couldn't score.

Curaçao, for their part, defended with growing confidence.

In the end, the match finished zero to zero.

For Ecuador, this result was a bit of a shame.

They played more and had more chances, yet couldn't win.

But for Curaçao, this was a remarkable result.

As such a small place, they held off a powerful Ecuador.

What's more, this was Curaçao's first-ever point at the World Cup.

A "point" is the score you get from a match; a draw earns one point.

For them, this one point was so precious, so meaningful.

For many big teams, one point may be nothing.

But for a small team like Curaçao, this point is like a medal.

After the match, Curaçao's players were beside themselves with excitement.

And that goalkeeper, without question, was the biggest hero today.

It was he who held this zero-zero with fifteen saves.

Actually, this is the most moving part of soccer.

The score doesn't have to be big; the story can be just as thrilling.

Small teams have their dreams too, and can create miracles too.

Alright, that's the Ecuador versus Curaçao match.

The two drew zero to zero, and tiny Curaçao earned a precious point.

Powerful Ecuador played a lot, yet couldn't win the match.

Their goalkeeper became the brightest star of the whole match.

Thank you for listening; see you next time.