Esports: Reigning eWorld Cup champion 'Gorilla' fails to make semis
LONDON (Reuters) - England's reigning FIFA eWorld Cup champion Spencer 'Gorilla' Ealing failed to make the final four of the 2018 tournament on Friday after losing to Malta's Kurt 'Kurt0411' Fenech.
Saturday's Xbox One semi-final will see Fenech take on Saudi Arabia's Group B winner Mosaad 'Msdossary' Aldossary.
Manchester City's Danish gamer Marcus 'Marcuzo' Joergensen, who beat Argentine favourite Nicolas 'Nicolas99fc' Villalba, will play Belgian Stefano 'StefanoPinna' Pinna in the PlayStation4 semi.
The winner of the cross-console Grand final at London's 02 Arena will take home $250,000 and an invitation to the world soccer body's Best FIFA Football awards in September and a gleaming new trophy.
The runner-up will win $50,000 while quarter-finalists get $10,000 each and the knock-out stage qualifiers $2,500.
Fenech topped Group A with 59 goals, six wins and one defeat before despatching Ealing 5-3.
"I’m expecting everything when I get back; red carpet, I can even run for President," joked the Maltese.
None of the countries represented in the eWorld Cup semi-finals have ever won the real soccer World Cup, although Belgium finished third in Russia last month.
The virtual finals kicked off on Thursday with 32 elite players who qualified out of a global pool of 20 million starters.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ian Ransom)
