Champions of the world

The competition is hotting up in the FIFA Interactive World Cup. Who will you be rooting for? Read on to decide for yourself.

After seven months of intense competition, hundreds of goals and countless half-time oranges, 32 finalists have secured their place in the Grand Final of the fourth annual FIFA Interactive World Cup. On the lovingly rendered football pitches of EA SPORTS FIFA 08, players spanning the globe from Australia to South Africa, Brazil to Korea, the USA and Italy, dribbled, headed and scored their way through the tournament's 20 live qualifying rounds, while over 25,000 players competed in the online leg via PlayStation Network. The finalists will compete for the ultimate accolade: the chance to be crowned the FIFA Interactive World Player of the Year at the Sony Centre in Berlin on May 24, 2008.

"I am very impressed with the level of the participants. It is clear that they have been practicing hard, and like any football event, practice is one of the most important things. The FIFA Interactive World Cup is establishing itself as a premier gaming tournament, and the only one under the FIFA banner", explained FIFA executive Chuck Blazer, who added "I think it is apt that there are now 32 competitors which mirrors the number of teams in the FIFA World Cup. This tournament is a serious one, and like its big brother tournament, the FIFA World Cup, it is the pride of being crowned the FIFA World Champion that encourages these great performances."

Going for gold

Defending champion Andries Smit from the Netherlands will be vying for the crown for a second year running. Hoping to prevent this from happening are the other 31 finalists, including Chris Bullard from the UK, the only previous winner to have reached three FIWC Grand Finals in the tournament's four-year history and Davor Brescakovic from Switzerland, who showed his true determination by competing in and winning the New Zealand qualifier having lost in the semi-finals of the Swiss event. They'll all be keeping an eye on the next generation of football virtuosos, including Ivan Pastyrčák from Slovakia and Sachith Reddy from India - both only 14. All finalists will be in hot competition to be crowned FIFA Interactive Player of the Year, win an invitation to the FIFA World Player Gala 2008 and a cash prize of USD $20,000.

"FIFA 08 is a highly competitive game that has all the fast paced, adrenaline pumping action of watching real football and requires a tactical mind and a love for football. The Grand Final will be played in a real football ambience and will provide the opportunity to experience a live tournament with all the thrills spectators and players feel with a FIFA World Cup title on the line", says Anthony Baffoe, former Ghanaian international and the first African player in the German Bundesliga, who will not only be one of the many football guests that evening but also the co-host of the event.

Everybody is welcome to cheer on the finalists at the Grand Final in Berlin and enjoy the free entertainment set up during this one day football extravaganza, due to kick off at 11am CET. Live entertainment will include German hip-hop artist Das Bo.

List of Finalists