It's great to wake up as the Champions of Europe. This is what the four Azzurri eplayers making up the TIMVISION PES eNazionale got to experience this morning after winning UEFA eEURO 2020, the first ever virtual European Championship played on Pro Evolution Soccer (Playstation 4). The FIGC has thus won its first trophy in the eSports world thanks to the newest member of the Azzurri family thanks to four guys who have been bowled over by the affection they’ve received from thousands of Italians.

Rosario 'Npk_02' Accurso, Nicola 'nicaldan' Lillo, Carmine 'Naples17x' Liuzzi and Alfonso 'AlonsoGrayfox' Mereu: these are the names and 'nicknames' of the new European Champions, three young Neapolitans and a Sardinian united by their passion for video games and the Azzurri shirt. They haven’t seen each other for months but have been in daily contact, working together in pursuit of a dream that came true for them yesterday. They were chosen by the FIGC after a long selection process which culminated in a tournament held in January at the Coverciano Federal Training Centre to determine who would have the honour to represent Italy.

After receiving congratulatory phone calls from FIGC President Gabriele Gravina and General Secretary Marco Brunelli, Head Coach Roberto Mancini, National Team captain Giorgio Chiellini and Lorenzo Insigne all sent video messages celebrating the quartet’s success.

“It’s a dream come true,” said team captain Nicola ‘nicaldan’ Lillo. “We practised a lot to achieve this objective and deserved it.” Born and raised in Naples, 33-year-old ‘nicaldan’ played a key role in the Azzurri’s success, winning three games against Denmark, France and Serbia. His penalty shootout success against ‘lofti_derradji’ was particularly unforgettable, a win which brought back memories of Italy’s triumph in the 2006 World Cup final in Germany: “When it went to penalties, that evening 14 years ago sprang to mind and I knew that I couldn’t lose. Winning the European Championship having overcome France, the big favourites prior to the tournament, makes it even more special.”

The Azzurri captain was ready to play the fifth and final match of the final against Serbia, but Insigne’s stoppage-time goal in the fourth fixture played between Carmine ‘Naples17x’ Liuzzi and ‘Kepa_PFC’ meant that this wasn’t necessary. “Let’s just say that Carmine took a big weight off my shoulders with that goal. It was a fantastic bit of play, it seemed like Insigne was Maradona!” All that remains to do is celebrate the triumph: “I can’t wait to meet up with my teammates, we need to celebrate together because we won as a team and showed that we’re a great group.”

As already mentioned, Carmine ‘Naples17x’ Liuzzi, who beat three-time world champion ‘usmakabyle’ in the semis, brought it home for Italy in the final: “I’ll never forget this day. Beating the world champion was incredible, he wasn’t expecting me to attack like I did. I think I caught him a bit by surprise. At that point, I realised that we could win the European Championship.”

21-year old Carmine then described Insigne’s decisive winner against Serbia: “I was feeling nervous, he kept putting pressure on me and I was struggling with my build-up play. When I saw the ball enter the net, I couldn’t believe it: I was ready to cry in front of my screen.”

Rosario ‘Npk_02’ Accurso and Alfonso ‘AlonsoGrayfox’ Mereu were also emotional after a thrilling experience: “Lifting the cup is an incredible feeling,” said ‘Npk_02. “I celebrated with my family yesterday and hope to do the same soon with my teammates. After a nearly perfect tournament where I’d conceded just one goal, it all went a bit wrong against ‘Kepa_PFC’ (a 5-1 loss) in the final. Thankfully, the other guys meant my defeat was meaningless, proving what a fantastic group we are.”

Approximately 60 kilometres from Cagliari, there’s a comune of 1800 inhabitants celebrating: Lunamatrona to be precise. People in the local community have really shown their affection for Alfonso 'AlonsoGrayfox' Mereu: “I still haven’t fully grasped what we’ve achieved,” confessed the 27-year-old Sardinian. “I think we’ll only do so in a few days’ time. The triumph was a real release after months of hard work, practising daily and making sacrifices. It’s clear that we managed to do something extraordinary when I look at the amount of messages that I’ve received in the past 12 hours. My phone hasn’t stopped buzzing!”