Sports

Soccer lives online! Sterling and Alexander-Arnold in ePremier League as FIFA, PES tournaments take off

April 18, 2020
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It all began at Leyton Orient, of all places, but there are a host of online soccer tournaments springing up, involving some of the world’s top players, clubs and leagues in lieu of the real thing.

Thousands of competitors are going head-to-head on FIFA 20 and PES 2020, with some big names also pitching in to help aid the fight against the coronavirus pandemic that has shut down football and most other aspects of normal life across the globe.

Euro 2020 postponed until next year? No problem, watch it play out online right now! Missing La Liga, the Bundesliga and MLS? Fear not! There are esports versions being played out across a host of social networks.

Here’s our comprehensive guide to the best of the quarantine-friendly competitions taking place at the moment.

EA Sports FIFA 20 Stay and Play Cup | eMLS FIFA 20 Tournament | The Football’s Staying Home Cup | The STAY INtertoto Cup | All At Home Gaming Cup | Bundesliga Home Challenge | eMLS Friendly Series | eLiga MX | UEFA eEURO 2020 | Virtual Milan Derby | Ultimate Quaran-Team | La Liga Challenge | Combat Corona | Restez Chez Vous Trophy

ePremier League Invitational

When: The competition kicks off Tuesday and runs until the final on April 25.

Who: An array of Premier League players going head-to-head in a knockout FIFA 20 tournament. The full invitational lineup is still to be confirmed, but Trent Alexander-Arnold, Raheem Sterling and Wilfried Zaha are all already involved.

Why: The prize fund will all be donated to the #PlayersTogether initiative, which was created by Premier League players as a collective way of generating funds for the NHS.

Where: Matches will be streamed on the official Premier League website, app, Youtube channel, Facebook page and Twitter account.

Fans can also tune in via Sky Sports’ official Youtube and Twitch channels, with the semifinals and grand final also being broadcast live on Sky Sports Main Event television channel.

Why should I care? The chance to see a whole host of famous Premier League footballers either excel or hopelessly embarrass themselves on FIFA 20 should never be passed up — and it’s all for a great cause.

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– Stream new episodes of ESPN FC Monday to Friday on ESPN+ (U.S.)

EA Sports FIFA 20 Stay and Play Cup

When: The competition runs until Sunday, with quarterfinals on Saturday and both the semifinals and final on Sunday from 1 p.m. ET.

Who: EA Sports have organised their very own FIFA knockout tournament that will see nominated footballers from 20 of the biggest clubs in Europe go head-to-head.

Why: As part of the proceedings, EA Sports has vowed to donate $1 million to Global Giving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund.

Where: Games will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and the ESPN app in the U.S, and streamed via EA Sports’ official FIFA Twitch channel elsewhere.

Why should I care? There are professional players representing some of Europe’s elite clubs, including Ajax (Sergino Dest), Atletico Madrid (Joao Felix), Chelsea (Cesar Azpilicueta), Borussia Dortmund (Achraf Hakimi), Liverpool (Trent Alexander-Arnold), Manchester City (Phil Foden), Paris Saint-Germain (Juan Bernat), Real Madrid (Vinicius Junior), AS Roma (Justin Kluivert) and Tottenham Hotspur (Serge Aurier).

Given that EA Sports is at the helm, it’s likely to be a slick operation. As an added incentive, fans can score bonus FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) points by linking a Twitch account to an EA account.

Results:

Round of 16

Vinicius Jr 1-4 Alexander-Arnold
Aurier 2-3 Silva
Bernat 0-2 Kluivert
Azpilicueta 0-2 Lindstrom

Remaining fixtures:

Foden vs. Bahoui
Joao Felix vs. Guimaraes B
Dest vs. Daramy M.
Hakimi vs. Karlstrom

Round of 32 (*some players received byes)

Daramy 3-0 Alho
Ihattaren 2-4 Bahoui
Vallejo 2-5 Karlstrom
Khaoui 2-8 Lindstrom

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Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold finds two quick goals to grab a 3-1 lead over Vinicius Jr.

eMLS FIFA 20 Tournament

When: The straight knockout FIFA 20 competition kicks off on Sunday, April 19, and then plays every Sunday for five weeks.

Who: The eMLS tournament will see actual MLS footballers such as Nani (Orlando City) and Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez (LA Galaxy) paired with their esports counterparts as 16 teams vie for glory.

Where: Matches will be aired on FS1 and Fox Deportes starting at 7 p.m. ET starting Sunday, April 19.

Why: After each episode, MLS WORKS, the league’s social responsibility platform, will make a donation on behalf of the winning club to Feeding America, with MLS also supporting Food Banks Canada.

Why should I care? Lots of big names from MLS will partner with the clubs’ respective eMLS gamers, making for some potentially exciting matchups. And because the real deal is on hold!

MLS stars who will take place in the tournament include D.C. United’s Paul Arriola, New England Revolution’s Diego Fagundez, Minnesota United’s Tyler Miller, Sporting Kansas City’s Wan Kuzain, New York Red Bulls Aaron Long and New York City FC’s Sean Johnson.

The Football’s Staying Home Cup

When: The first round was April 10 with a second round on Friday, April 17.

Who: The competition, launched by England captains Harry Kane and Steph Houghton, has been organised by the FA and will see various England internationals going head to head in the virtual FIFA 20 arena.

Where: Fans can follow matches via England’s official Twitter account and YouTube channel.

Why: Funds raised will be donated to the National Emergencies Trust.

Why should I care? There are plenty of big names involved from across the England men’s, women’s and under-21 sides, with the competition making up part of the FA’s #FootballsStayingAtHome initiative.

The all-star cast of players includes Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Lucy Bronze, Jordan Nobbs, James Maddison, Tammy Abraham, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah and Ryan Sessegnon.

Results:

Marcus Rashford 1-2 Jadon Sancho
Jordan Nobbs 0-4 Eddie Nketiah
Reiss Nelson 1-3 Ryan Sessegnon
Lucy Bronze 1-0 Ellie Roebuck
Trent Alexander-Arnold 1-3 Max Aarons
Todd Cantwell 5-0 Mason Mount
Tammy Abraham 5-2 Callum Hudson-Odoi
Callum Wilson 2-3 James Maddison

Quarterfinal fixtures:

Jadon Sancho vs. Eddie Nketiah
Ryan Sessegnon vs. Lucy Bronze
Max Aarons vs. Todd Cantwell
Tammy Abraham vs. James Maddison

The STAY INtertoto Cup

When: Games are ongoing.

Who: Lots of players from Premier League, Championship and Football League clubs as well as some from outside the U.K. banding together to play a round-robin FIFA 20 tournament of their own.

Why: While serving to stave off boredom for the quarantined pros involved, the STAY INtertoto Cup will be raising money for NHS Staff.

Why should I care? Actual players from from England’s professional leagues and beyond, representing their clubs — what’s not to love?

The name of the competition is also a rather excellent pun, and suitably nostalgic for football fans of a certain vintage who remember the preseason tournament for European clubs who had not qualified for UEFA competitions. The Intertoto Cup, always something of an oddity, was eventually scrapped in 2008.

All At Home Gaming Cup

When: The first tournament was on April 5, then every Saturday until April 25.

Who: Organised by Paris Saint-Germain, weekly winners will advance to face the likes of Layvin Kurzawa, Julian Draxler, Juan Bernat and PSG’s own esport FIFA pro, DaXe.

Why: As well as the chance to play against a PSG star, there are a variety of prizes up for grabs including match tickets, meet-and-greets, luxury hotel stays in Paris, and various other signed club merchandise.

Where: The pro finals will all be broadcast on PSG’s social channels and live on beIN SPORTS.

Why should I care? The main aim of the tournament is to help reinforce medical and government advice for everybody to stay at home and look after each other during the lockdown.

The All At Home Cup will also feature a “goal of the tournament” poll that will be open to public voting, allowing everybody to play their part.

Bundesliga Home Challenge

When: The fourth round of the tournament takes place on April 18-19.

Who: 29 teams from the top two divisions of German football, as well as a referee’s team.

In most cases, each club will be represented by one of their senior pros as well as another staff member.

Why: Designed to enforce the message to stay at home and isolate during the coronavirus outbreak, the Bundesliga hope to provide some entertainment to help keep cabin fever at arm’s length.

Where: All games are streamed on Bundesliga.com and via the Bundesliga’s official YouTube account.

Why should I care? Because who wouldn’t want to see professional players try to get their revenge on a team consisting entirely of referees?

eMLS Friendly Series

When: In progress

Who: The eMLS are hosting and organising a series of FIFA 20 friendlies between players from actual rival MLS clubs.

Why: Just for fun.

Where: Games are being streamed live on Twitch. Check the eMLS Twitter account for details.

Why should I care? Because they may be calling them friendlies, but that doesn’t mean the players are taking these encounters lightly.

Take a recent clash saw Alan Pulido (of Sporting KC) and Oswaldo Alanis (San Jose Earthquakes) for instance. Pulido celebrated scoring a goal against his fellow Mexico international so loudly that the latter could probably hear it from his living room in San Jose.

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eLiga MX

When: Began on April 10. The Clasico Nacional between Chivas and Club America will take place on May 24, with the Clasico Regio featuring Monterrey and Tigres on May 23 and the Clasico Tapatio involving Chivas and Atlas on May 10.

The regular season of the e-tournament is set to end on June 7, although no dates have yet been published for the playoffs.

Who: Each of the 18 clubs in Liga MX will be represented by a team of three players from their 2020 Clausura squads. Club America’s Giovani dos Santos and Tigres’ Nahuel Guzman will be taking control of their teams.

Why: Liga MX has been shut down since March 15 due to the coronavirus outbreak, so the league will be restarting in digital form to offer fans pining for football an alternative.

Where: Games will be broadcast live on TV in Mexico and the United States and highlights no doubt will be posted online.

Why should I care? With the real thing on ice, the e-league competition will mirror the 2020 Clausura season — i.e., a full regular season and then a playoff to decide the champion. And the banter as current players square off gives it a little extra edge — Tigres legend Guzman is sure to provide some fun with his inimitable style and sharp tongue.

Results: Dos Santos and Guzman went head to head in the second round, with Club America winning 3-2.

UEFA eEURO 2020

When: Playoffs on April 20 and 27, final tournament on May 3-4

Who: Ten nations have already qualified (Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Romania and Serbia), and the final six will be decided via playoffs.

Why: Champions will win tickets to the final of the actual UEFA European Championship next year as well as a cash prize.

Where: Matches will be streamed live on UEFA’s official YouTube channel.

Why should I care? UEFA’s grand PES 2020 tournament boasts the distinction of being the largest “efootball” international competition ever staged, with 55 nations originally entering into the preliminary rounds.

As things stand, some 10,000 gamers have taken part, while streamed content from the tournament (including the draws) has been viewed by over 2 million people.

Also, with the real thing postponed until 2021, this is as close to a European Championship you’ll be getting for a while.

COMPLETED TOURNAMENTS

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AC Milan’s Rafael Leao goes up against Inter youngster Sebastiano Esposito in a Milan derby on PES.

Virtual Milan Derby

When: April 11

Who: AC Milan’s Portuguese forward Rafael Leao faced Inter Milan striker Sebastiano Esposito in a PES 2020 version of the Milan Derby.

Why: The two fierce rivals collaborated as part of Milan’s initiative to unite all fans during the coronavirus outbreak, with all funds raised going to aid in the fight against Covid-19.

Milan hoped to unite all fans during the coronavirus pandemic and to invite them to contribute to the ongoing fundraising campaign launched by the Club and Fondazione Milan in the fight against Covid-19. The campaign raised over €600,000, with fans able to donate via the Go Fund Me page.

This was the first time the famous Derby della Madonnina has been contested online and, while hardly ideal, it was nice to see the Milan clubs putting their differences aside for a good cause.

Result: A 2-2 draw.

Ultimate Quaran-Team

 

When: The final was on April 7.

Who: Initiated by English third-tier club Leyton Orient as a means of keeping boredom at bay during the lockdown, this international FIFA 20 tournament is the original trailblazer.

Why: As well as staving off tedium in the absence of football, the Quaran-Team competition raised well over half of its £100,000 fundraising goal.

The money raised will be split between the EFL (to help keep struggling clubs afloat) and two worthwhile charities, MIND and the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, run by the World Health Organisation.

Where: Most matches were streamed live on YouTube.

Results: We had upsets galore, epic clashes, dramatic late winners, incredible 10-goal whitewashes and Blackburn Rovers midfielder Bradley Dack getting himself sent off while playing as Bradley Dack.

Out of the 128 clubs that entered, Premier League side Wolves were the last team standing, beating Dutch outfit Groningen 2-1 in the final.

La Liga Challenge

When: The final was on March 22.

Who: The championship was organised by Spanish YouTuber and gamer Ibai Llanos and involved players from all of Spain’s 20 top-flight teams, namely:

Alaves: Lucas Perez
Athletic Bilbao: Gorka Guruzeta
Atletico Madrid: Marcos Llorente
Barcelona: Sergi Roberto*
Celta Vigo: Kevin Vazquez
Eibar: Edu Exposito
Espanyol: Adri Embarba
Getafe: Jason
Granada: Jose Martinez
Leganes: Aitor Ruibal
Levante: Carlos Clerc
Mallorca: Alex Pozo*
Osasuna: Ruben Garcia
Real Betis: Borja Iglesias
Real Madrid: Marco Asensio
Real Sociedad: Adnan Januzaj
Real Valladolid: Pedro Porro
Sevilla: Sergio Reguilon
Valencia: Carlos Soler
Villarreal: Manuel Morlanes

*Clubs had to forfeit games due to their clubs’ deals with PES creators Konami.

Why: The idea to create a full tourney came about after around 60,000 football-starved fans tuned in to watch a virtual derby between Borja Iglesias of Real Betis and Sergio Reguilon of Sevilla — which saw the former triumph in a dramatic 6-5 win for Betis.

As well as helping to keep folks entertained in the absence of real football, the event helped raise around €142,000 to help in the fight against the coronavirus.

Where: Streamed live by Llanos on Twitter.

Result: With Marco Asensio at the helm, the virtual Real powered to a 4-2 victory over Leganes (represented by Aitor Rubial) in the final after seeing off Eibar in the semis.

Combat Corona

When: April 5

Who: Some big-name contenders were announced, with Gareth Bale and Paulo Dybala in the mix for the FIFA 2020 tournament. They were joined by fellow pros Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mason Mount, Jordan Pickford, Daniel James, Billy Gilmour, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Luke Shaw and Kieran Tierney.

Why: Funds raised will be donated to UNICEF to aid in the fight against the coronavirus. In total it raised £18,000.

Where: The first games got underway live on Twitch.

Results: In the main event, Dybala, playing as Real Madrid, left Bale out of his starting XI and proceeded to romp to a 3-0 victory over the Welshman’s Manchester City side.

Restez Chez Vous Trophy

When: An initial tournament took place April 2-9 with the winner facing the winner of a second tournament (April 10-12) to be crowned champion.

Who: The FIFA 20 charity tournament was organised by French tennis professional Nicolas Mahut, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Thomas Meunier and Valencia’s Kevin Gameiro among a whole host of sporting stars involved.

Why: Funds raised by the competition will be donated to charities supporting hospitals and medical workers in Paris. Amateur gamers will be rubbing shoulders with professional athletes in the middle of the esports arena with special prizes (signed tennis rackets, video games, etc) up for grabs.

Where: Mahut set up his own page, from where you can access the games. Indeed, L’Equipe reported that around more than 1,000 participants took part.

 


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