F2Tekkz March Cup

Four things we learned from the FUT Champions Cup March: Gullit and Ozil see FIFA success

Last weekend saw yet another FUT Champions Cup take place and, yet again, it was a few action-packed days of entertainment and drama.

The finals in Singapore treated FIFA 19 fans to a few fresh faces but, in the end, it was once again Donovan 'F2Tekkz' Hunt who came out on top and took home the trophy.


Tekkz is one of most dominant in esports


There is no player in any esport in the world who is currently as dominant as Tekkz. Even before Singapore, the 17-year-old had over double the points of any other Xbox player in the Global Series Rankings and also had over 2,000 more points than PlayStation leader Nicolas 'Nicolas99fc' Villalba. Now, Tekkz has shot up to over 9,000 points - continuing his sensational form.

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After defeating Fatih 'Ustun' Ustun in the grand final, Tekkz has now won back-to-back FUT Champions Cups and has won three out of the five FUT Champions Cups this season - and four in total in his career. There is no question that Tekkz is the best player in the world and has already built up a legacy, irrespective of whether he wins the eWorld Cup later this year - although you'd be mad to not bet on him winning the big one.


Footballer success on the virtual pitch


FUT Champions Singapore was also a big success for those who represent past and present footballers, as both Ruud Gullit and Mesut Ozil had players go far in the tournament. Henrique 'Zezinho23' Lempke of Team Gullit had an excellent performance on PlayStation as he eliminated last year's eWorld Cup runner-up Stefano Pinna 6-2 in the console semi-finals.

However, the Brazilian lost the PlayStation final to Ustun from Mesut Ozil's M10 Esports. Ustun's M10 team-mate Pedro Resende lost to Tekkz 4-2 in the Xbox semi-finals and Ustun met a similar fate in the grand final as he was dismantled 6-2 by Tekkz. Still, these are encouraging results for both Team Gullit and M10 Esports which could see their players qualify for the eWorld Cup later this year.


Stefano Pinna consistent but disappointed


PSV Eindhoven's Stefano Pinna recently announced that he was taking a break from online qualifiers so that he could reset mentally but still travelled to Singapore for the FUT Champions Cup. The Belgian showed no signs of rust as he sailed through the tournament but an uncharacteristic performance saw him crash out of the PlayStation semi-finals.

It was yet another semi-final for Pinna which most players would be happy with but the Belgian told Goal that he wants to begin reaching finals and winning tournaments to take himself to the next level. The PSV man won a cross-console final for the first time in his career earlier this year and is still a player to keep your eye on this season.


Levy puts Excelsior on the map


The tournament also featured a fairy tale story for one of the older players at the tournament, 24-year-old Levy Frederique who represents the small Dutch football club Excelsior Rotterdam. Before this tournament, Levy was joint 99th in the Xbox Global Series Rankings - putting on the same number of points as popular British YouTuber Jamie 'Bateson87' Bateson.

Yet, Levy will now shoot up in the rankings after reaching the Xbox final in Singapore, though he also fell victim to the immense form of Tekkz. Though the 6-0 defeat did not reflect the efforts of Levy, even Tekkz came out in support of the Dutchman, saying: "Honestly, I'm sorry Levy, you are the best player I have ever played. You will go very far." That is a huge statement from the champion, Levy could be a dark horse this year.

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