Self-isolation has been a very testing time for many, and there is one thing that millions nationwide are missing deeply and that is some live sporting action.
Putting all sport on hold throughout the pandemic is leaving many dreaming of the day the next ball is kicked, but until that day comes the United Kingdom has become insistent in finding their next dose of sports activity.
Many have found that the closest thing available to the real thing lies in the world of e-sports and competitive gaming, especially in the new wave of FIFA 20 competitions that have enjoyed a great reception from those who deeply miss the beautiful game.
With the rise of online gaming taking the competitive scene by storm, it would be hard to imagine FIFA tournaments being broadcast live on Sky Sports and live odds featured on betting apps for the world to use, but with no live sport people are tuning in.
Only recently was the official ePremier League Invitational FIFA 20 tournament concluded, after seeing some of England’s biggest footballing talents clash with each other whilst using their own respective club teams.
It is safe to say there were some very fiery encounters on the way to the very intense final match up, with Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha vs Raheem Sterling from Manchester City going viral on twitter as well as Wolves’ Diogo Jota’s thrashing of Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi.
The Wolves attacker made the competition look easy on his journey to final, scoring an incredible 17 goals before matching up with Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold at the last stage.
The Portuguese international eased past Ndidi, Lys Mousset of Sheffield United and Burnley’s Dwight McNeil.
It was the FIFA fanatic, Jota, who came out victorious after a golden goal victory against Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The return of some form of competition is great to see and the nation is definitely getting behind these creative ways of keeping the passion for football alive.
League two side, Leyton Orient, certainly have had a monumental role in shaping what has become the new craze after their ‘Ultimate Quaran-team’ tournament which took over football clubs’ social media for the first weeks of lockdown.
The London side managed to bring together 128 clubs from all over the globe to compete in what would become a huge FIFA 20 competition.
Orients Twitter admin originally started with a humble 64 team knockout tournament, but as attention grew, they decided to expand by doubling the number of participant clubs across 22 different leagues.
It was Wolves again who stormed through the competition as champions, thanks to competitive esports player Flavio.
The odds seemed to be against Wolves heading into the tournament after failing to make it in William Hill’s top five favourites to be named champion.
With no exact date confirmed for the return of Premier League football and the cancellation of both the Eredivisie and Ligue 1, video game tournaments could be the only sporting action that we can watch for a while.
The positive impression competitive gaming has had throughout this lockdown period could mean it continues to keep people intrigued and entertained, even when professional football leagues around the world resume action.
This article was written exclusively for golear.co.uk
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