National e-sports team fails premiere

The DFB’s e-sports national team is the “tournament favorite” to make its debut at the eNations Cup – and is disappointed, above all, by itself. Surprisingly, the DFB duo is already over after the group phase. Especially in the supposed paradise discipline, almost nothing works out.

After their completely messed up premiere in the national jersey, Michael Bittner and Mohammed Harkous collapsed with hanging heads in their gaming chairs. The German e-athletes shamefacedly hid their faces behind their hands. “We imagined it all differently,” Bittner said after the premature preliminaries at the eNations Cup in London. “The disappointment”, he continued with a slightly shaky voice, “is of course huge”.

At the first national comparison of the FIFA 19 scene, the duo of the German Football Association (DFB) wanted to “make their nation proud” on the international stage, as they had announced before. But the two professionals from Werder Bremen fell far short of expectations. After the clear and painful defeat against Brazil (0:9), Germany had no chance to advance after only three of four group games. “It really hurts us that we could not deliver,” said “Megabit” Bittner.

The 20-year-old had won 7-1 against Norway and 3-6 against Argentina on the Xbox. Only a single success by Playstation player Harkous as well as unusual weaknesses in the doubles brought the DFB selection, however, their success. The final duel with Sweden on Sunday was therefore meaningless.

Amazing double weakness

Harkous admitted that it was “unexpected” that there were many points left, especially in two against two. Only in March, “MoAuba” and “Megabit” had crowned themselves the first winners of the VBL Club Championship – the club championship of the German Football League (DFL) – and were particularly convincing in doubles (only three defeats in 21 games). “Many are not so well-rehearsed. We know each other inside and out”, Bittner had claimed before the tournament. But that was far too rare to see in the British capital.

One thing is for sure: The DFB probably expected much more from its first steps in e-sports. It was only at the end of March that the DFB had launched the first German national e-team and nominated the two Bremen-based teams for the Team World Championships, which had been set up by the world association Fifa and games manufacturer EA Sports. Before the start, the duo had even called itself a “tournament favorite” alongside Saudi Arabia.

And on paper, they were, too. “MoAuba” is eighth in the current world ranking on Playstation, “Megabit” is third on Xbox. Both players are thus well on their way to securing a ticket for the Individual World Championship in summer, the season highlight of the FIFA scene. The disappointing appearance in the DFB jersey should, therefore, be a good thing for them to cope with.