The big cut of the FC Pro season is done. In the Regional Qualifiers ended numerous World Cup dreams. Seven Germans can still hope for the Open ticket, which Diogo Jota passed up for a Derby win
Diogo Jota’s name was certainly one of the more surprising entries on the list of potential participants for the FC Pro Regional Qualifiers. The Portuguese in the service of Liverpool FC had qualified for the elimination round in 81st place in the EU West rankings, but faced a not inconsiderable scheduling conflict. That’s because the Merseyside derby between LFC and Everton FC was scheduled during the FC 24 tournament.
Diogo Jota in derby fever
The calendar entry that the 26-year-old had set for himself in an announcement video by EA SPORTS for the qualifier moved to second place due to the prestigious duel. This is because Diogo Jota was on the pitch for the full duration of the game in his Reds’ 2-0 win. Thus, participation in the FC Pro Tournament was not possible, and his games were counted as defeats against him.
Meanwhile, things went really well for BVB ace Bradley ‘Assault_il’ Destoop in the West of the EU. Still 34th in the Open Ladder, he played great in the Qualifier. Already unstoppable in the Swiss Round, there was nothing he could do against the Belgian in the Upper Bracket. With two wins he secured his place in the Top 8 and entered the Global Qualifier with ease.
BVB shocker ‘BerkayLion’
Destoop’s Dortmund teammate Roee Feldman, meanwhile, was eliminated. In the Open Ladder, the Israeli had finished as the best player in the EU East region. In the qualifier, however, he was defeated in the lower bracket by Bremen’s returnee Berkay ‘BerkayLion’ Demirci, who then directly eliminated a second Borussian in the German decider against Dennis ‘denninho’ Malcherczyk.
It was even more dramatic than for Malcherczyk for FOKUS pro Mustafa ‘Musti’ Cankal. He had also fought his way into the decisive duel of the lower bracket and delivered a breathtaking exchange of blows with Andrea ‘Montaxer’ Montanini. In the end, however, the Italian in the service of Genoa prevailed by a narrow margin of 9:8.
Bochum goal rush – Seven Germans qualified
Bochum’s talent Julien ‘julien_fngk’ Fungk made his journey through the lower bracket more successful. The youngster played himself into a frenzy at times, gifting St. Pauli’s Koray ‘KKoray’ Kücükgünar 13 goals before securing his place in the Global Qualifier.
Joining Fungk and Demirci in the next round are Leverkusen’s Sean ‘Sean_ldw07’ Landwehr, TSG Hoffenheim’s Serhat ‘Serhatinho’ Öztürk, Rostock’s Lukas ‘Lukas_official11’ Wolff, Gladbach’s Jannis ‘JistenNSQ’ Pütz and Düsseldorf’s Joe ‘JH7’ Hellmann. This will be played from November 10 to 12 in London.