Brazilian crowned FIFA Interactive World Player 2004

By Tom Bramwell Published 20 December, 2004

Playing as France, mind.

'Brazilian crowned FIFA Interactive World Player 2004' Screenshot 1

Electronic Arts' ambitious FIFA Interactive World Cup, based on the Xbox version of FIFA Football 2005, concluded at FIFA House in Zurich yesterday as eight of the world's top players went head-to-head.

And after two tough groups and knock-outs, 21 year-old Brazilian Thiago Carrico de Azevedo (pictured) of Rio de Janeiro triumphed over another 21 year-old, Matija Biljeskovic, of Rockford, Illinois, USA.

De Azevedo will be honoured on-stage at the FIFA World Player Gala at the Opera House in Zurich, where he will receive the FIFA Interactive World Player 2004 award alongside the actual male and female "world footballers of the year".

De Azevedo played as France and took second place in a group stage featuring opponents from the UK, South Africa and Australia, before beating a South Korean opponent playing as England 3-2 "in a semi-final match that left the crowd literally on their feet," according to EA.

He then beat US winner Biljeskovic, playing as AC Milan, 2-1 in a tense and defensive-minded final, describing it as "as tough a match as I have played," in his post-match comments.

"We both were determined to play a tough defensive style and I was fortunate that my goalkeeper played so well. I'd like to thank FIFA, EA SPORTS and Xbox for treating me to an experience that I will never forget," he added.

EA also provided stats on the tournament overall. More than 8,000 players and spectators visited regional tournaments around the globe, EA says, playing over 3,000 games with more than 6,500 shots hitting the back of the net.

The publisher also trumpeted the response from Xbox Live users, pointing to one player who's played more than 1,228 matches, and another with 3,800 goals to his name and an unbeaten streak of over 200 games.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (11) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • gizmo #1 7 years ago

    '6,500 shots hitting the back of the net'

    Is that in a single game? Told you the Fifa games were too high scoring.

  • Blerk #2 7 years ago

    The winner looks like a 'non-green' version of the Hulk.

  • Whizzo #3 7 years ago

    Brazilian wins World Cup, quelle surprise! ;-)
    Edited by 1 at 20/12/04 @ 11:35

  • CyberClaw #4 7 years ago

    Are you sure it's Thiago and not Tiago? (Tiago is a portuguese name, Thiago isn't)

    Also the word "de" in his name, means "of". In other words "Thiago Carrico de Azevedo" (if it's really Thiago and not Tiago) means "Tiago Carrico of Azevedo"

    Calling him "De Azevedo" ence, is wrong he should only be called "Azevedo" ("de" doesn't even have a capital letter, because it isn't a name).

  • Hurleybird #5 7 years ago

    Not a great suprise that the best football gamer looks like he hasn't played a game of football in his LIFE!

    Also strange that geeks still look like geeks the world over!
    Edited by 1 at 20/12/04 @ 11:53

  • Madder-Max #6 7 years ago

    Is it me or does it look like the guy on the right is fiddling with The Hulk's balls?

  • Whizzo #7 7 years ago

    Well it got to 11 posts before the PESfanboi contingent turned up.

  • Sunrise #8 7 years ago

    7, actually...

  • Aga #9 7 years ago

    Playing as France?

    He should take Northampton all the way like I did with Premier Manager 3!

  • Sunrise #10 7 years ago

    Thank you. I'm a PES fanboy myself

  • wolfen #11 7 years ago

    erm, brazilian names are much varied than portuguese names, who have to follow a certain table of authorized names (and that's why there are that many people with equal names). For instance, Thiago Motta (Barcelona's Sick Bay, currently) is brazilian, altough of italian origin. To be registred in here, he'd have to be called Tiago Mota, or the registration office wouldn't accet his registration.
    And I think I know you from a certain school :p

    But I diverge.

    I've seen a few images of the tournament before the Gala on Eurosport, it seems it won't take much longer until FIFA actually makes an official cyber world cup. I wonder when will EA make a massive 11 human player a-side LAN game just for the occasion.