England Wins FIFA Interactive World Cup 2005

Electronic Arts has announced the end of the second annual video game-based FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC), with FIFA expert game player Chris Bullard, 18, of England beating Gabor Mokos, 15, of Hungary, in the Grand Final, and earning himself an all expenses paid trip to the real-life FIFA World Player Gala 2005 in Zurich, Switzerland. Ten finalists from around the world competed in London for the title of FIFA Interactive World Player 2005 on FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup on the Xbox 360. In addition to eight regional tournament finalists, twenty-two Xbox Live finalists were flown in from around the world to compete for one of two spaces in the grand final. All the finalists were rewarded with an all expenses-paid trip to the London final, a copy of FIFA 06 an Xbox 360 console to play it on. The FIFA World Player Gala 2005 event in Switzerland was hosted by the world soccer governing body, with the primary focus on the real world male and female FIFA footballers of the year. The victorious Bullard enthused, "The whole tournament was simply brilliant. It means so much to me that I was able to win this tournament for my country. This is simply a dream come true and easily the best moment of my life. I did not think I could win after my favorite player Frank Lampard was sent off in the 24th minute. Now I can represent England on stage with the big stars and maybe even stand next to my idol Frank Lampard."