6 May 2010, Australia – The sixth FIFA Interactive World Cup Champion was recently crowned after intense interactive football action at Barcelona’s Port Olympic.  

Twenty-two year old Nenad Stojkovic from the USA completed the long road to interactive football glory, which culminated in the FIFA Interactive World Cup Grand Final.  There, the world’s 32 best virtual football players met face to face for a display of strategy and skill on EA SPORTS™ FIFA 10 on PlayStation®3.  

Stojkovic beat Ayhan Altundag from Germany in front of a cheering crowd, securing the title and the $20,000 USD prize money. He also received an invitation to attend the FIFA World Player Gala 2010 where he will rub shoulders with real life football heroes.  

In a very close and exciting match, Stojkovic’s Chelsea side took the lead in the 34th minute of the first half.  He was denied the lead into half time as Altundag equalised in the 42nd minute with the French national team. The second half was balanced until Stojkovic scored the 2:1 with Drogba in the 75th minute.  The German fought hard to get back into the game but in the end it was the American who kept his cool and walked away with victory and the FIFA Interactive World Cup crown.  

The third and fourth play-off was contested between Bruce Grannec from France and England’s Danny Taylor. In a closely fought encounter between Chelsea and Real Madrid, defending champion Grannec beat the Taylor 3:0. They received prize money of $5,000 for 2nd and $1,000 for 3rd place respectively.

“Two days ago I was dreaming I could make it, and now I have succeeded. I can say this is probably the happiest day of my entire life,” said Nenad Stojkovic.  “During the final I tried to remain calm and I did not want to celebrate my goals.  My opponent was really good. This is amazing!”

“The FIFA Interactive World Cup is breaking records every year, with more than 775,000 online participants in this 2010 edition. We have seen the best virtual football players in the world compete for the champion’s title in a fantastic Grand Final in Barcelona, where not only the participants, but also the fans enjoyed a truly unique event”, said FIFA Executive Committee member Chuck Blazer.  

Nenad Stojkovic’s triumph was the culmination of a thrilling event at Port Olympic, which played host to the FIFA Interactive World Cup final for the second year running. In addition to the Grand Final showdown, spectators at the event were treated to an action packed day of gaming, music and football, featuring special guests such as football legend Patrick Kluivert and Spanish beach soccer star Amarelle, as well as an exclusive live DJ set from Groove Armada’s Andy Cato.

“The thrilling showdown at Port Olympic was a fantastic end to this year’s competition with Stojkovic proving to be a very worthy champion,” said Matt Bilbey, Vice President Football, EA SPORTS.  “The FIFA Interactive World Cup 2010 has seen the strongest ever field of competitors in its history and to emerge victorious from over three quarters of a million entrants is no mean feat, congratulations!”

“The FIFA Interactive World Cup 2010 has been a huge success and we offer our warmest congratulations to the winner Stojkovic,” said Darren Carter, Vice President, Consumer Marketing, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.  “To have had over 775,000 entries for this year’s competition clearly shows how the combination of the growing popularity of PlayStation®Network on PlayStation 3 with FIFA 10 is something that taps into this community unlike anything else.”

Launching in October last year, the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2010 attracted over 775,000 entrants, competing on FIFA 10 for PlayStation 3, both through the PlayStation Network and via a series of live qualifying events for one of 32 grand final places at Port Olympic in Barcelona. The online phase of the competition consisted of two mini seasons running from October – December 2009 and from January – April 2010, with the top eleven and ten gamers from each respective season qualifying for the final. A further ten finalists came from the  live qualifying events held around the world in Australia, Brazil, France, Italy, Japan, Denmark, Poland, Russia, South Africa and UK, with the last final spot reserved for defending champion Bruce Grannec of France.


For more information on the FIFA Interactive World Cup, including a list of the 32 finalists, please go to www.FIFA.com/fiwc
 
Footage and images of the FIFA Interactive World Cup Grand Final can be found on the FIFA Media Channel http://media.fifa.com