5 April 2011, SYDNEY – Australia has uncovered its latest FIFA football sensation – an interactive sensation that is … and he’s Brazilian!
Last night Sydney played host to the world’s biggest gaming tournament; the prestigious FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC) and in a close shave Grand Final, Samuel Liberato from Brazil beat Todd Sekli from the Gold Coast. The Brazilian backpacker who travelled to Australia and entered the tournament, was crowned FIWC Champion for 2012.
Liberato’s win in Australia, means he secures a lauded place in the FIWC International Grand Final later this year, where he will compete against an elite group of 32 skilled virtual football athletes from around the world, selected from over 1 million players who have participated in the global tournament.
The winner’s remarkable FIWC journey started last month, with a thousand football fans and gamers from around Australia competing across 8 knock-out heats to get down to the 8 finalists who participated in the live qualifier last night.
The tournament took place against Sydney’s spectacular harbour backdrop where the finalists went head to head to fight for their position to compete in the International Grand Final. The play off took place centre stage in front of a huge crowd of friends and supporters cheering on the last two finalists Todd Sekli and Samuel Liberato. It was a nail biting finish with Liberato in the lead 3-0 until the final minutes, when Sekli scored two fast goals. The match resulted in Liberato winning the game by just one goal – 3-2.
Liberato commented on his FIWC win: “It’s amazing, it’s an indescribable feeling because I am here without my family, without my parents. But I’m here with all my friends that I’ve met here in Sydney…to win this Australian championship.” He continued, “It’s a dream, it’s a dream!”
Additional highlights of the night included event MC’s David Basheer (SBS) and well known games expert Jeremy Ray who helped keep the crowd entertained as they called a Celebrity Interactive World Cup match. Sydney FC’s Scott Jamieson kept his game face on as he defended his title against Channel V’s Danny Clayton, Matilda’s star Caitlin Foord and Street Football legend D10. In the end it was D10’s fancy finger work that outplayed Caitlin Foord to take the trophy.
With more than 1 million players competing around the world, Australia is one of only 11 countries to host a live FIWC tournament. Competition is tough to secure one of only 32 finalist seats in the International Grand Final Event and Samuel has now secured his spot on the world stage. The overall winner will ultimately be crowned the new FIFA Interactive World Champion on stage at the FIFA Players Gala in front of luminaries such as David Beckham, Tim Cahill, Wayne Rooney, Ricardo Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernando Torres, Lionel Messi and many more.
Organised by FIFA and presenting partners EA SPORTS™ and PlayStation® – the FIWC combines online and offline football tournaments played with EA SPORTS™ FIFA 12 on PlayStation®3 (PS3™).