{"id":2285,"date":"2026-07-06T08:27:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T12:27:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/?p=2285"},"modified":"2026-07-06T08:27:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T12:27:57","slug":"world-cup-dreams-become-a-reality-for-mcc-alumnus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/2026\/07\/06\/world-cup-dreams-become-a-reality-for-mcc-alumnus\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup Dreams Become a Reality for MCC Alumnus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThe sky is not the limit; it is only the first stop.\u201d It is a mantra Kevin Messam, MCC alumnus, lives by, as is evident by his journey as the FIFA World Cup Liaison for Team Curacao. Kevin spent weeks with the team serving as an ambassador of sorts between the team, including players, coaches, and support staff, and the FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom six flights in just twelve days, to late nights, daily operational meetings, morning training sessions in 90-degree heat, and the constant pace of arriving in one host city the day before a match and departing immediately afterward, the experience was both demanding and incredibly rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2286 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Kevin-Messam-WC1-225x300.jpeg\" alt=\"Kevin Messam teammates: Kevin Messam standing with his arms around the shoulders of two of his \u201cteammates\u201d.\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Kevin-Messam-WC1-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Kevin-Messam-WC1-75x100.jpeg 75w, https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Kevin-Messam-WC1-rotated.jpeg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Some of Kevin\u2019s most memorable moments included being officially welcomed as part of the team and joining one of the co-captains for a celebratory dance after the first practice. He also added that it was incredible to<\/p>\n<p>see Eloy Room, Curacao\u2019s goalie, record a record 15 saves (which led to thousands of Instagram followers and a reach of 1.5 million) against Ecuador.<\/p>\n<p>Although Curacao was eliminated, Kevin is proud to have been part of the team that faced fierce competition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWithout question, it was the most surreal experience of my professional career, and one that I will cherish for the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kevin has now returned home, hopefully to get some rest after a whirlwind of weeks on the road. There is no doubt he will reflect on his time at the FIFA World Cup and revel in having been part of this extraordinary experience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope my journey serves as a reminder that no dream is too ambitious. Continue to believe in yourselves, pursue excellence relentlessly, and never place limits on what&#8217;s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2288 size-medium alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Kevin-Messam-WC12-225x300.jpeg\" alt=\"Kevin Messam stadium: Kevin in a suit, on the field with a fellow World Cup employee.\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Kevin-Messam-WC12-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Kevin-Messam-WC12-75x100.jpeg 75w, https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Kevin-Messam-WC12-rotated.jpeg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2289 size-medium alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Kevin-Messam-WC14-225x300.jpeg\" alt=\"World Cup Player: World Cup player on the field with a World Cup employee.\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Kevin-Messam-WC14-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Kevin-Messam-WC14-75x100.jpeg 75w, https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Kevin-Messam-WC14-rotated.jpeg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2287 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Kevin-Messam-WC9-225x300.jpeg\" alt=\"Scoreboard: Scoreboard in Kansas City with the text Full House 68,324.\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Kevin-Messam-WC9-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Kevin-Messam-WC9-75x100.jpeg 75w, https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/files\/2026\/07\/Kevin-Messam-WC9-rotated.jpeg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThe sky is not the limit; it is only the first stop.\u201d It is a mantra Kevin Messam, MCC alumnus, lives by, as is evident by his journey as the FIFA World Cup Liaison for Team Curacao. Kevin spent weeks with the team serving as an ambassador of sorts between the team, including players, coaches, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":718,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,103],"tags":[213,9,212,211,151,196,49,126],"class_list":["post-2285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-news","category-mcc-proud","tag-fifaworldcup","tag-mcc","tag-weare26","tag-worldcup","tag-college","tag-fifa","tag-higher-education","tag-monroe-community-college"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/718"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2285"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2290,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2285\/revisions\/2290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}