West Ham United eSports player ‘Yago’ Gabriel Fawaz finished PlayStation4 runner-up at this weekend’s FUT Champions Cup event in Bucharest.
The young Argentinean was sporting Claret and Blue as he went on an excellent run through the three-day competition, seeing off three of his five group stage (in a 'Swiss round' format) opponents 3-2, 5-3 and 2-1 respectively.
He then went on to conquer a further three opponents in the knockout stages – defeating VillaMore 4-1 on aggregate, Maestro 3-0 on penalties (after a 3-3 draw), and NSE LucasRep98 5-1 – on his way to the PlayStation4 final.
What an amazing performance ⚒ @yagofawaz had an amazing first tournament as a @WestHam player by finishing second in the world on the first FUT Champions cup of this season ? What a BEAST ?#westhamesports #irons #FUTChampionsCup1 #FUTChampions pic.twitter.com/VCYbJeD4PT
— WestHamEsports (@WestHamEsports) November 10, 2019
While Wolves’ Fifilza came out on top 6-2 on aggregate in the console final – going on to lose the Grand Final against renowned FIFA player Tekkz – the run means that Yago collects an impressive 1400 Global Series points from the event.
Yago will also draw huge encouragement from the emphatic form he showed in the Hungarian capital, particularly in defeating last year’s global runner-up Vitality Maestro at the quarter-final stage, and from his semi-final showing against NSE LucasRep98.
Speaking after the competition, the Argentinean said: "I'm very happy with my results in this tournament. The Swiss rounds were tough, but I managed to get through.
"In the final I had to play Flavio, Fifilza, one of Wolves' eSporters. He is one of my friends, and I'd also played him in the qualifiers for this tournament. Of course I'm disappointed that he beat me, but he really deserved it.
"It feels really special to be vice-champion on the PlayStation, and I'm very happy to have qualified for the next major, FUT Champions Cup 2, in two weeks."
Last season, just over 2000 Global Series points were needed to qualify for the eFIFA World Cup play-offs, meaning Yago is now well on course for the main event, which will take place in July 2020.
Yago joined the Hammers this summer along with fellow eSports player ‘Jas’ Singh, and qualified for this weekend’s FUT Champions Cup Stage I in a nail-biting play-off last month, winning one of only four spots available to players based in South America.
The event was the first FUT Champions Cup event of the 2019/20 season, with five more such tournaments scheduled for the campaign to come.
You can see all the results at FUT Champions Cup Stage 1 on the EA SPORTS FIFA website. You can also see Yago's semi-final performances below (starting at 2:53:15 on the video player).
If you’re a FIFA player and dream of representing the Hammers this year, remember that you can now register for the ePremier League through the competition's website.
Don't forget to pick up your limited edition 19/20 West Ham United eSports Jersey - made for West Ham gamers everywhere - through our online store.