When it comes to what we miss most about football, there are any numbers of things on an ever-growing list. From the anxiety that can only come from looking forward to a big game before it kicks off, to the player interviews, the highlights, the aftershock of a managerial sacking or news headline, the memes, we miss it all.
Footballer-to-footballer banter is very high up on that list too, though. So it’s good news for football and Esports fans that the Combat Corona challenge has taken place, with some high profile footballers facing off in a couple of games of FIFA20 for the fans, with viewers on Twitch donating over £18,000 to combat the spread of Coronavirus in the process.
The action was really well presented, with some same-club clashes as well as deadly rivals swapping bragging rights too.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin took on Jordan Pickford in an all-Everton clash that saw the superstar striker get the better of his club and International teammate Pickford.
Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw, sporting a buzz-cut that suggested someone might have done well to move the former Southampton player’s hair clippers before the start of the U.K. lockdown, took on Chelsea and England player Ruben Loftus-Cheek. In one of the hardest-fought battles of the series, Loftus-Cheek was the loser and had to make a provate donation to the charity as he had bet before the game against Shaw!
Also raising funds for charities and the NHS battling COVID-19 were Manchester United’s flying winger Daniel James and Chelsea’s teenage midfield dynamo Billy Gilmour. When James announced that he’d played “about eight games” of FIFA since the latest version of the game came out, Gilmour almost visibly licked his lips, and ended up winning the game against James, who had taunted Gilmour that he was looking for United’s fourth win over Chelsea during the season.
United, of course, have already won both Premier League games against Chelsea as well as dumping them out of the Carabao Cup along the way. Gilmour’s victory might be the only revenge Chelsea fans can enjoy if the F.A. Cup doesn’t end up resuming this season.
In an all-London match-up, Arsenal defender Kieran Tierney got the better of Chelsea attacking midfielder Mason Mount, with the injury problems Tierney has experienced during the last year of his professional football career not affecting his ability on the virtual pitch.
The biggest game many fans were looking forward to, however, was between Wales and Real Madrid wing-forward Gareth Bale and Juventus and Argentina striker Paulo Dybala. Oddly, Bale chose to play as Manchester City, with Dybala opting to play in the black of Real Madrid’s away kit.
Bale – who openly admitted that he hadn’t played FIFA in five years! – was dominated in the first half, and only ventured forward for his first shot around the hour mark. He then, sensationally, took the lead, as Sergio Aguero came to his virtual rescue. Bale taunted his friend Dybala with the iconic ‘heart-hands’ celebration to the camera.
That, maybe, wasn’t the best idea for his chances.
Dybala came out firing, coming back from a goal down to eventually wipe the floor with the multiple Champions League winner Bale, with the Juventus man winning the game 3-1.
By the end of the Combat Corona charity challenge, donations had reached an incredible £18,331.50 on the Twitch stream. With over 275,000 viewers, the stream was a huge success and we can see more of these being put on during the enforced sporting sabbatical.
Watch all the action in a replay right here.
