“Padel is excellent training for me”: the phenomenal goalkeeper of the 2026 World Cup, Eloy Room, attributes part of his achievements to padel

If there is indeed a revelation of this 2026 World Cup is Eloy Room The guardian of Curaçao has become one of the tournament's strongest players thanks to performances that defied all predictions and allowed one of the smallest teams to remain competitive against much stronger nations.

His most memorable performance came against the Ecuador In a match that ultimately ended in a goalless draw ( 0-0 ), the 36-year-old goalkeeper put on a truly masterful performance with 15 stops , a record in World Cup history for a goalkeeper.

Thanks to him, Curaçao secured their first ever point in the competition, after a match in which they frustrated the Ecuadorian attackers for 90 minutes.

Padel as a supplementary training

What if one of the secrets of this exceptional World Cup lay… on a padel court?

In an interview with the BBC, the Curaçao goalkeeper revealed that he regularly plays padel to work on certain qualities essential to his position.

“I do something every day: gym, exercises on the court, and also a lot of padel. It’s excellent training for me because it’s perfect for reflexes and cardio. I try to mix all these aspects, and it suits me perfectly.”

A statement that inevitably reflects his performances since the start of the tournament.

Reflexes, trajectory reading, and explosiveness

The link between the goalkeeper position and padel is ultimately quite obvious. Padel requires reacting in a fraction of a second, reading unpredictable bounces, and maintaining high physical intensity during short, repeated bursts of effort.

These are qualities that Eloy Room displayed throughout this World Cup.

Already heavily involved in the defeat against Germany, the goalkeeper had limited the damage thanks to several outstanding saves. But his virtuoso performance against Ecuador definitively propelled him into another dimension.

At a time when more and more top athletes are using padel as a complementary training tool, the Curaçao goalkeeper may have just provided the best possible publicity for it.

Benjamin Dupouy

I discovered padel directly during a tournament, and frankly, I didn't really like it at first. But the second time, it was love at first sight, and since then, I haven't missed a single match. I'm even ready to stay up until 3am to watch a final of Premier Padel !