RIYADH — It has been a bittersweet start for India at the FIFAe World Cup
2024 featuring eFootball here at the SEF Arena in Saudi Arabia.
The highlight of India’s performance in the competition
has definitely been Danial Shakeel Patel, who secured himself a spot in the
quarterfinals of the mobile eFootball competition with four wins, one draw, and
two losses.
However, in the team competition – FIFAe World Cup ft
eFootball Console, India failed to make it to the last four, as the eTigers finished
eighth in a nine-team group, with six losses, one draw, and a solitary win.
Patel will now face the third team from Group B, Turkiye,
represented by Yusa Haydar Gokulu, in the quarterfinals of the FIFAe World Cup
ft. eFootball- Mobile on Wednesday, which will be played in a best-of-three
format. The winner of this matchup will face an opponent from either Malaysia
or Japan in the semifinals at midnight.
Debuting at the international arena, Patel took the world
of mobile eFootball by storm on Day 1 of the competition with his explosive
attacks that caught his opponents by surprise. While he began with a 7-0
drubbing of England in his first game, the 17-year-old came up against two
traditional Asian powerhouses in esports in the next two match-ups -- Japan and
Indonesia.
Patel made short work of Japan, a 4-1 victory, followed
by a closely fought 3-2 win against Indonesia. He ended Day 1 with another
convincing victory, a 5-0 result against Spain.
Day 2, however, brought a different set of challenges for
Patel. With 12 points in the bag, Patel produced a dominant display against yet
another esports powerhouse, South Korea. Though the match may have ended in a
stalemate, Patel maintained 81 percent possession throughout the game.
Things went downhill from thereon, however, as he lost
his next match 1-5 against Costa Rica, followed by a 0-1 defeat against Brazil.
Despite the two defeats on Day 2, Patel finished with 13 points from seven
matches, which earned him the second spot in Group A, just one point behind
Indonesia.
Represented by Chinmay Sahoo, Saksham Rattan, and Ibrahim
Gulrez, the Indian eFootball team finished eighth in Group A of the FIFAe World
Cup 2024 featuring eFootball Console.
Day 1 was a case of a few near misses for the eTigers,
who began with a 0-3 loss at the hands of South Korea, followed by a 1-2 defeat
against Spain. They lost 0-1 against France in their last match.
The trio had somewhat of a positive start on Day 2, a 1-1
draw against Poland, but soon succumbed to Malaysia, Netherlands, and Indonesia
by margins of 2-4, 1-5, and 0-3, respectively.
However, the eTigers picked themselves up in the last
game against England, winning 2-0 to condemn their opponents to the bottom spot
in Group A.
