RIYADH: Brazilian powerhouses Alpha7 Esports roared to “PUBG Mobile” gold at the Esports World Cup on Sunday night — then revealed meeting compatriot Neymar in Riyadh provided the inspiration for their triumph.
Alpha7 won $467,312 from the over $3 million prize pool, and collected 1,000 Esports World Cup Club points, after putting on a commanding performance at a packed SEF Arena at Boulevard Riyadh City.
Their 153 main tournament points — consisting of 71 placement points, 82 kill points and five WWCDs, or Winner Winner Chicken Dinner — lifted the Brazilians 29 points ahead of second-placed outfit Reject.
Al-Hilal football star Neymar, a Brazilian hero as well as a keen esports fan who recently attended the Esports World Cup in person, may not have been able to cheer Alpha7 on to victory at the arena. But his words when he met the team recently proved inspiration aplenty.
Alpha7 player Revo, real name Roan Henrique Alessio, revealed: “We talked about so many things because he’s just a guy like us. He’s so humble. It was a dream come true.
“The inspiration came from meeting Neymar face to face. When we met him, we were like: ‘We need to win this now. We need to become champions now.’
“He said: ‘I trust you guys and I want to come to the arena to see you.’ But unfortunately, he couldn’t. But all the words he said to us were good (enough). We took photos to send to our families and they couldn’t believe it.”
Revo added: “I’m feeling great and grateful because we fought so much to be champions. I feel so good. I think we are writing a new story for esports in Brazil. I think we are going to become champions more times.”
After thoroughly enjoying playing at Gamers8 in Riyadh, Revo believes that the Esports World Cup has boosted Saudi Arabia’s status as a host on the global scene.
“Last year it was so good,” he said. “This year is so good. Every time we come here it’s better — there’s always something better. It’s the best organization we have ever seen. I want to say thank you because every time we come here it’s a good time. Thank you to all the fans and all the organizers.”
Japanese outfit Reject — whose player Reiji claimed $50,000 as the “PUBG Mobile” tournament MVP — earned $259,312 for finishing second, while $212,312 went to Chinese side Tianba in third.
The Esports World Cup, which features a unique cross-game structure pitting the world’s top clubs and players against one another across 22 global competitions in 21 leading games, runs until Aug. 25.
Befitting the largest gaming festival in the world, the tournament has a prize pool of $60 million — the largest in the history of esports.
More than 1,500 players, of over 60 nationalities, are battling it out at the Esports World Cup. Week five, which begins on Wednesday, sees competitions in “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege,” “Apex Legends,” and “Honor of Kings” taking place.
