Real Madrid star Asensio wins LaLiga FIFA 20 tournament after scoring with himself as £133k raised to fight coronavirus
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REAL MADRID forward Marco Asensio has missed the entire season with a serious knee injury.
But the time away from the pitch paid unexpected dividends when he was crowned champion of La Liga's Fifa 20 video game tournament on Sunday.
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With Spanish soccer on hold along with most live sports while the world fights the coronavirus pandemic, players traded the pitch for Playstation in an online tournament organised by esports commentator Ibai Llanos and endorsed by La Liga.
By the time the tournament ended almost £135,000 had been raised, a figure set to grow even further thanks to donations still to be received.
The one million spectators who followed the live tournament action also showed great generosity by donating over £36,000, a sum which has been added to the £97,000 donation from LaLiga and Santander bank.
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Over 170,000 people watched Asensio, playing as Real, beat Aitor Ruibal of Leganes 4-1 in the final, the culmination of a weekend of action involving 18 La Liga sides.
Barcelona and Real Mallorca were not allowed to take part in the tournament as their clubs are sponsored by Konami, the creators of FIFA 20's main competitor Pro Evolution Soccer.
Asensio also comprehensively beat Edu Exposito's SD Eibar in the semi-final (7-0), and a Villarreal CF side led by Manuel Morlanes in the quarter-finals (5-1).
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Beaten finalists CD Leganes, meanwhile, had defeated Lucas Perez’s highly-fancied Deportivo Alaves side 3-2 in the semi-finals and Gorka Guruzeta’s Athletic Club (7-2) in the quarter-finals.
The objective of the tournament, devised by Llanos, was to raise funds for Unicef and its fight against Covid-19.
Spanish authorities have said more than 33,000 people have been infected with the coronavirus in the country, with 2,182 deaths.
