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Technology Lifestyle France's Grannec wins FIFA Interactive World Cup 09
Technology Lifestyle France's Grannec wins FIFA Interactive World Cup 09 | France's Grannec wins FIFA Interactive World Cup 09 |
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| by Stephen Withers | |
| Wednesday, 06 May 2009 | |
  
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After preliminary rounds played by more than 500,000 entrants at 19 centres around the world and online, the top 32 players travelled to Barcelona, Spain for the culmination of the contest. The 32 were whittled down to just two, and in the final match Grannec defeated Ruben Zerecero of Mexico by three goals to one in front of 8000 spectators. Grannec won $US20,000, a Kia Soul car, and an invitation to the next FIFA World Player Gala. "I am very proud of this victory", he said. "It pays back hours and hours of practice which prepared me to compete on such a big stage. It proves that, if you work hard, you will have success." The other finalists would probably dispute that they had failed to work hard enough, but it's nice to hear from a winner that admits to being proud of a victory rather than claiming to be "humbled" by it as so many do. Previous champions Alfonso Ramos (2008) and Andries Smit (2006) were in the round of 32 but failed to reach the final. FIFA Executive Committee member Chuck Blazer saluted the finalists: "I was pleased to see the passion and the outstanding technical skills shown by the 32 competitors." Darren Carter, vice president consumer marketing, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, described the tournament as "a truly remarkable competition". Matt Bilbey, vice president international marketing, EA Sports said "With the fantastic increase in the number of participants, the FIWC 09 was a great success for everybody involved. We're looking forward to expanding the tournament in the upcoming years". |
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