Sports commentators will sometimes refer to athletes having “video game stats,” numbers so impressive they seem to be produced in a virtual realm rather than the mortal. But even inside the polygon-and-pixel world of FIFA 18, some goals are purely transcendent.
In this morning’s round of 16 matches at the FIFA 18 Global Series for PlayStation players, FC Basel’s Tim “TheStrxngeR” Katnawatos launched a ball in a beautiful arc for the top-right corner of the net, and it seemed like the gods and universe itself aligned to make it happen.
The simply gorgeous golazo was scored in-game by Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, who thanks to the Ultimate Team mode can be played in his prime time alongside current professional players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in competitive FIFA. I hope, somewhere out there, the real-life Ronaldo is proud of his virtual counterpart.
Compete is Deadspin and Kotaku’s joint site dedicated to competitive gaming.