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Throughout December, Chisinau hosted a tournament in the popular football simulator FIFA 2018 on SONY PlayStation consoles. Its main feature was that representatives of well-known Moldovan brands and business companies competed for the title.
“In our country, FIFA competitions have been held since the early 2000s, but they were always among regular users where everyone played for themselves. We decided, for the first time in Moldova’s history, to hold a tournament among Moldovan brands and businesses. The initiator was the Enter retail chain, which created all the conditions: provided SONY PlayStation consoles and space in its stores for the matches, and prepared prizes and gifts,” said the tournament’s chief organizer, Anton Plahotin.
“A total of 48 brand representatives competed for the title. They were split into 12 equal groups. Following the UEFA Champions League group format, opponents played six games against each other—three home and three away—after which the group winners, the runners-up, and the best third-placed teams advanced to the Round of 32. From that stage to the final, it was straight knockouts,” explained the regulations Kiril Keruntu, a representative of Go Social, which oversaw the tournament.
One of the 48 entrants was the SEMSEO team. In the group stage our opponents were Engineering Office Fortan, Football Statistics, and Blasmus Trade. Our debut wasn’t great and brought two heavy losses—0:3 to Engineering Office Fortan and 0:4 to Football Statistics (as it turned out, those two teams eventually finished 2nd and 3rd overall). Our first win came in Round 3 versus Blasmus Trade—3:0; after that, SEMSEO drew with Engineering Office Fortan (4:4) and Football Statistics (1:1). The final group match against Blasmus Trade ended with the same score as in the first round—3:0 to us. Thus, with 8 points, SEMSEO became one of the best third-placed teams and moved into the Round of 32.
In the first knockout round we faced Taxi 14006. In their group they had earned 16 out of 18 points, topped the table convincingly, and were clear favorites against SEMSEO. From the opening minutes they played attacking football and could have taken the lead several times, but at the end of their moves shot at the keeper or wide. The price for wastefulness came in the 40th minute: after a corner, SEMSEO went ahead, scoring a crucial away goal. In the second half, despite Taxi 14006’s overwhelming advantage, their accuracy failed them—22 shots on target and three times off the woodwork—ending 0:1. In the return leg at our ground, any draw suited us, while a defeat with more than one goal conceded would send the opponent through. Midway through the first half, Taxi 14006 scored a beautiful top-corner goal to level the tie. Few believed the favorite would let it slip after that, but in first-half stoppage time we executed another set piece well and literally bundled the ball into the taxi team’s net—1:1. Even then, the overall picture barely changed: Taxi 14006 still needed one more goal to advance. They pressed all through the second half, firing from every distance; when it seemed there was no escape, the woodwork twice came to our rescue on point-blank and open-goal efforts. With great difficulty we held on for a 1:1 draw, which was effectively a win for us: “Taxi 14006 were a great motivator for us, since we service the software of their competitors, who really asked us to beat them. In the group stage the posts and crossbar were always on our opponents’ side, but in the Round of 32 fate repaid the debt,” SEMSEO player Valery Bodarev said after the match.
In the Round of 16 our next opponent failed to show up, and under the rules we were awarded a 6:0 aggregate technical win and a place in the quarterfinals—making the top eight.
The final eight was scheduled for the tournament’s last day and brought together the strongest eight representatives of Moldovan business who had reached the quarterfinals. The top eight brands out of 48 were: SEMSEO, Pro Lotus, Legea.md, Energotehcomplet, Engineering Office Fortan, Football Statistics, Qoobus Corporation, and Enter.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t reach the semifinals. Our quarterfinal opponent was Pro Lotus. The first leg was even and seemed headed for 1:1, but in second-half stoppage time Pro Lotus snatched a 2:1 win. In the return match, SEMSEO now had to score twice, which the opponent exploited fully. While we attacked with numbers, Pro Lotus repeatedly struck on the counter and won 4:0.
“Overall, I’m satisfied with our performance. Out of 48 participants we made the top eight, lasted to the final day, and shared 5th–8th places—finishing ahead of well-known Moldovan companies such as Moldcell, Acord Grup, VicMobile, Infoexpress, Blasmus Trade, Ren TV, and many others. This is a good result considering we had not practiced either esports or FIFA before. After this successful run we already bought a brand-new SONY PlayStation for the office and are training for the next tournament. Thanks to Enter and Go Social for hosting the event. We’ll be happy to take part again next year,” SEMSEO CEO Igor Gratie concluded.
The organizers catered not only to players but also to fans. Spectators could place bets on matches, guess the winner, and receive prizes for correct predictions. Those knowledgeable about football could take part in a themed quiz and also receive prizes from sponsors.
The tournament winner was Legea.md, Football Statistics took second, and Engineering Office Fortan completed the top three. The medal-winning teams received medals, diplomas, cash awards, and gifts from the Enter store; the champion took the main trophies—the Cup and a PlayStation 4 Slim; the other top-eight teams received souvenirs and a boost of good spirits.
