Germany’s title hopes at the FC Pro World Championship are over. Jonas Wirth and Levy Finn Rieck were defeated by their opponents in the round of 16 – RBLZ pro Anders Vejrgang is through to the quarter-finals
“I don’t really care if Anders is waiting for me,” Jonas Wirth said in an interview with eSport during the preliminary round. At the time, he didn’t know that he would actually have to face Anders Vejrgang in the round of 16 as the group runner-up. A duel between the strongest VBL players of the current season – eChampions League winner against eEuropean champion.
The match on Friday evening did not initially live up to these title laurels. Vejrgang started energetically, but missed great opportunities (4th/18th). ‘Jonny’ was hardly active offensively in the early stages, but then drew attention to himself for the first time with a shot – which the Dane’s keeper saved (20th). The opportunities increased and improved towards the end of the first half: First Vejrgang just scraped a ball off the goal line (35′), a little later he missed a double chance of his own (40′).
‘Jonny’ blunder breaks the spell for Vejrgang
The score went into the break at 0:0, after which the virtual net finally fizzed. A big mistake in the build-up play put Wirth 1-0 behind – Vejrgang ran in alone on the keeper and converted (47′). “Of course it was a mistake on his part. But I’m also the only player who can press like that. I was rewarded for it in this scene,” Vejrgang told eSport.
After that, the Dane’s spell was broken: He increased the score to 3:0 within a few in-game minutes (54th/62nd). The Leipzig player missed further opportunities, which is why ‘Jonny’ came back to 1:3 from his point of view after a corner
Vejrgang did not allow any more tension to build, however: only shortly afterwards, he dribbled through the opposition’s six-yard box, even past the goalkeeper, and slotted home to make it 4:1 (84′). Wirth scored a second goal in stoppage time (90.+3) – but of course it came too late. His dream of a title quadruple after winning the German club and individual championships and the eChampions League was thus shattered
Rieck turns around a deficit – but only until the break
The same applies to Levy Finn Rieck, who lost his round of 16 match against Italian Luciano Vecchione. Like ‘Jonny’, ‘levyfinn’ also played a good first half: although his opponent took the lead after just four in-game minutes, Vejrgang’s RBLZ team-mate was not impressed. Rieck equalized just a little later with a penalty from his “FC 24 favourite” Andrea Pirlo (7th).
After half an hour of in-game action, ‘levyfinn’ turned the game around with a header from a corner (30′). Leipzig dominated proceedings at this stage and deservedly went into the break with a 2:1 lead. Only to suffer a similar fate to Wirth after the restart: Vecchione swiftly equalized from 18 metres (48′), after which Rieck was unable to find a sensible way back into the game.
Double strike seals the end of ‘levyfinn’
Weak defending allowed the Italian to score his third goal (56′), increasing the pressure on ‘levyfinn’. Noticeably thrown off his rhythm, the RBLZ eSportsman conceded the fourth goal shortly afterwards (61′) – and there could easily have been two more in the in-game minutes that followed. Rieck’s defense faltered in this phase and Vecchione missed a few very good opportunities
It was not to be revenge for ‘HHezerS’, as the Monza professional is known in FC 24. Because ‘levyfinn’ could no longer find the means to make a comeback in offense. This meant that – at the same time as ‘Jonny’ – the second German World Cup participant was also knocked out of the tournament.
Even though the World Cup is now over from a German perspective, the tournament continues. EA SPORTS will play the remaining round of 16 matches today, with the quarter-finals continuing tomorrow from 2 p.m.