The EWC “exceeded my expectations” – former Dutch soccer player Wesley Sneijder
RIYADH: Former Dutch footballer Wesley Sneijder shared his experience at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, describing the event as “madness” and predicting that esports will be the future of global sport.
The former Ajax, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Galatasaray attacking midfielder, widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation, was at Boulevard Riyadh City on Sunday, where the Grand Finals of StarCraft II, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and EA Sports FC were taking place.
“I was invited here and I love the game so there was no question about accepting the invitation,” said Sneijder, the Netherlands’ all-time most capped player with 134 appearances.
“I’ve always wanted to see professional gaming up close and personal, and the growth of esports in recent years has been incredible.
“I had high expectations before coming, but what I saw far exceeded my expectations. It’s amazing! The venue and facilities here are amazing and as a fan, I’m interested to see how the EWC will develop in the future. It looks like esports is the future, so it will only get bigger and bigger every year.”
Sneijder said the event brought back fond memories of the gaming culture at his former club, where the Dutchman, who made his professional debut with Ajax in 2002, said it was the start of his gaming journey.
“When I was really young we didn’t have computers but by the time I got into the Ajax first team they had PlayStations,” he said. “We used to play together a lot, especially during pre-season, but at a certain point I hardly got any sleep because we were playing at night because we had training the next day!”
“The game became huge for a lot of footballers then and has remained that way ever since. Looking back, I never could have imagined the game would progress so much and become so real.”
Reflecting on his time in Italy, where he achieved a historic continental treble in 2009/10 by winning Serie A, Coppa Italia and UEFA Champions League under legendary manager Jose Mourinho, Sneijder said: “It’s where we played the most together as a team. I played a lot with Mario Balotelli and Marko Arnautovic. I loved playing with them.”
“As footballers, it was always nice to see ourselves represented in FIFA. Before each new edition, it was always an exciting time to think about who the new faces would be and what the new skills would be. We often discussed these things. Our ratings were also a big topic every season, with some players feeling: ‘Wow, why am I only here?’ ‘Why am I not higher?’ We were always competing over these little things, and it was always a lot of fun.”
Not only did Sneijder get to watch a match of EA SPORTS FC 24, the first in the new series that succeeds FIFA, but his appearance at the EWC coincided with the final of a tournament featuring his favourite franchise.
“I’m a huge Call of Duty fan. I’ve seen and played every edition that’s been released so far. I absolutely love it and the improvements they make with each new game are amazing,” he said.