CHICAGO (April 12, 2021)—Gordon “FCC_Fiddle” Thornsberry and Mohamed “KingCJ0” Diop will represent the U.S. eNational Team in FIFA eNations Cup competition this year after winning the inaugural U.S. Soccer eNT Open. The double-elimination tournament featured the seven top-ranked American FIFA players on both XBox and PlayStation as well as one player on each console from Open Qualifiers.
Thornsberry, a professional eMLS player for FC Cincinnati, is back on the eNational Team after earning his first call-up for the USA last summer at U.S. Soccer eSeries 1. Fiddle recorded four straight wins to return to the eNT, defeating his opponents by a combined 22-11 score.
“I always like to win but this one feels a bit more sweet,” Thornsberry said. “I try and win everything I play in, but whenever you’re representing a club like FC Cincinnati that’s near and true to me and also whenever I’m winning a spot with the USA, it’s kind of like a double win for me.”
Diop won the PlayStation bracket after emerging from the 88-player Open Qualifers. Despite losing in the first round of the final eight-player tournament, the D.C. United eMLS player rallied to win the lower bracket and reach the PlayStation Grand Final. After winning the first match of the Grand Final in penalty kicks, KingCJ0 needed to defeat his previously undefeated opponent a second time to win the double elimination bracket. He did so in thrilling fashion, scoring in the 114th and 120th minutes to secure his place on the eNT.
“I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished and I just cannot wait to represent the U.S.” Diop said. “I am so happy that I managed to complete the whole journey from the Open Qualifiers last week to the Closed Finals this week all the way up to the Grand Final and winning two series.”
Thornsberry and Diop will represent the USA in qualification for the FIFA eNations Cup 2021 later this spring and other eNT events throughout the year. The eNations Cup is FIFA’s official international eFootball competition and 2021 marks the second edition of the tournament.