Aldquo;I was probably 14 when I realised I was really good at FIFA,Ardquo; says Niklas Raseck, who this week became the first European to play in the eMLS FC 24 Coins. After learning the game from his older cousins, he decided to try his hand at a tournament. Aldquo;That was the first year I played FIFA Online, and I reached the semi-finals of the German Championship, which was my first actual tournamentAhellip; I didn't really think about how good I would be or if IArsquo;d get knocked out early, and reaching the semi-finals was a really good starting point.Ardquo;

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Raseck explains to me that this was the first year of the German Championship, and his performance had put him on the map in his home country: Aldquo;That's where FIFA esports started. I was right there when it started to get bigger and bigger.Ardquo;

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Not many 16 year olds are flown out to New York to compete in the eWorld Cup (then called the FIFA Interactive World Cup) as Raseck was for FIFA 16. From the back of that performance, he signed with local football club VfL Bochum 1848, during a period in which he says he grew up a lot. Traveling the world will do that to a person.

Between his time at Bochum and later at esports organisation Rogue, Raseck admits he was playing the best FIFA of his career, regularly competing in the FUT Champions Cup and placing well at the eWorld Cup on multiple occasions. That was when he signed for Guild, as the organisationArsquo;s first FIFA player.

Everything was going well for Raseck, who had developed the nickname NR7, until the pandemic hit. Aldquo;That was pretty sad because I had already qualified for the eWorld Cup and was feeling really good,Ardquo; he explains. Aldquo;IArsquo;d just won my first international trophy a couple of months before that, so it was a really good year.Ardquo buy EAFC 24 Coins;