It was an exciting Nations Cup Final between the Netherlands and Brazil. The FIFAe Nations Series is a year-long event organized by FIFA that finishes with the Nations Cup.
The Path to the Finals
The Netherlands won their 2-leg series by a score of 3-0 over Italy with all goals coming in the 2nd leg. Brazil defeated France in their semi-final 2-0 with both of their goals coming in the 2nd leg as well.
Brazil and the Netherlands both locked it down defensively in the knockout round as they only conceded 1 goal in their 6 knockout round games prior to playing Brazil. The Netherlands outscored their opponents 10-1 over their first 3 rounds of play. Brazil outscored their opponents 6-1 over that span.
In the group stage, the Netherlands had allowed 9 goals over the 10 group stage games. They had 5 wins, 4 draws, and a loss finishing 2nd in their group.
Brazil won Group C with a 6-2-2 record and outscored their opponents 17-11 in the group stage.
The Final – 1st Leg
The first goal came in the 22nd minute and was the direct result of a dangerous turnover in which Brazil’s goalie made a poor decision on a risky pass. The Netherlands quickly took the ball into the box and passed it to a player in a good position to score and shot it into the top right corner of Brazil’s net.
There was a huge chance late in the 1st half for Brazil only about 10 yards out that was shot wide that could have tied the game up at 1.
In the second goal for the Netherlands, they worked the ball into the box with a touch backward and another quick touch moving the ball to a player in a great attack position. The shot was well placed into the top right corner of the net.
The Final – 2nd Leg
PauloNeto999 came in for Brazil in place of Resende. Paulo Neto plays for Atlanta United in the eMLS and was a substitute for Brazil for most of the tournament. Paulo Neto made it to the final in the 2023 eMLS Cup which he lost 1-0 in.
10 minutes Netherlands had a great chance they put just wide that would have just about sealed the championship.
The Netherlands made a massive save in the 54th minute of the 2nd league on a penalty from Brazil. The goalie picked the correct direction and dove to his right making a key save.
A second penalty was awarded to Brazil which they scored in the 75th minute making the leg 2-1.
Moments later a beautiful pass by Brazil into the box the receiving player spins as he receives the ball and it’s an excellent strike.
At this point Brazil was leading the second game with 10 minutes left and the 2-leg series was tied 2-2.
In the second half of extra time, PHzin for Brazil made 2 excellent cutbacks to create separation for a close strike and score the go-ahead goal with only 9 minutes of extra time remaining.
The Netherlands looked to have a good chance with 3 minutes left but Brazil closed the passing lane forcing a turnover. Brazil took the ball downfield and kept it in the Netherlands’ corner for the final minute killing off the remaining clock.
“PHzin He is the best player in the world. And he is showing us again this season. Last season with the 90-minute goal. This season with the extra time goal. He’s super special. We are glad he is a Brazilian.” Brazil’s coach, Gabriel Guimarães Martin, said on the Cup-winning goal.
“It feels like a wasted chance, You never know when you will be here again. Because Fifa is a very complicated esports, where depending on form of the day and margins are so close. When you are so close to winning you would rather just lose 5-nil and say they were better.” Manuel Bachoore said of the Netherlands following the loss to Brazil.
“I felt like this was a chance. It was, we were 2 nil up. I think we played amazing first game. 2nd game even when they made a substitution we were playing pretty well. There was a momentum change I don’t know what it was and then we just lost every ball in our own half and we couldn’t get out of their press anymore.” Levi De Weerd of the Netherlands thoughts following the loss. “Conceded 2 penalties, I don’t if it was a penalty but in the end, they were just amazing attack. I can’t blame Manu or Emre for that because they defended pretty well and I felt like they were still going to score.”
“I’m confident for the World Cup. Just now focus on 1v1.” Emre Yilmaz of the Netherlands on his thoughts looking ahead to participating in the FIFAe World Cup.
Group Stage
Knockout Bracket
FIFAe World Cup Begins Sunday
The FIFAe World Cup will begin on Sunday. The FIFAe World Cup is a 1 on 1 tournament competing in Football Ultimate Team that allows millions to try to qualify for the event and is recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest online esports event. 24 competitors are split into 4 groups consisting of 6 players each. Each player will play 10 group stage matches over 2 days before the knockout round begins on July 18. The top 4 from each group will advance to the knockout stage.
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