By the time he came back, they had held steady and were in a playoff spot. He returned, though, a different person. Room took just four days off between Curacao’s group stage elimination from the World Cup. He barely touched his phone during that period, and spent time trying to decompress.
But the locker room responded with the obligatory banter all the same when he walked back through the doors.
“They were like: ‘What are you doing here? We thought you wouldn’t come back after the World Cup’,” Room said.
By July 5, just 10 days after Curacao’s World Cup campaign ended, Room was back on the pitch. He made three saves as Miami battled to a 1-1 draw against Birmingham Legion. Over 68,300 attended Curacao’s final World Cup game against Cote d’Ivoire. The official attendance for Miami FC’s fixture was listed at 606.
“I think there were less than 100 people in the stadium, to be honest,” Room said with a laugh.
Room insists he treats a USL Championship game in the same way he would a World Cup group fixture.
“When I’m at the pitch, and I’m focused, I’m just in my zone – I’m goalkeeping. Of course it makes more sense if you play in the stadium with 70,000 people, but it keeps me maybe a little bit grounded,” he said.
Either way, he is ready to go.
“Physically, I feel fit, so that’s not a problem. But mentally it’s just a quick turnaround to go from the World Cup, playing now here again, and the general things. I didn’t have the time to process everything yet,” he said.