Michael Ribeiro
FIFA Interactive World Cup 2008 US online winner.

How long have your been playing FIFA?
I've been playing since '98 on SEGA Genesis.

Who's your favourite team?
Bareclona, who've been my favourite in the past two FIFAs - 08 and 09.

Why do you like playing with your favourite team?
Speed and talent, pretty much.

You won the FIWC 08 online qualifiers in North America last year. How did you prepare for the tournament?
Well, I knew I had to just play and play every day, that's what online is all about. It was a six-month online tournament, so the key was to play mostly every day - or try to at least. Being consistent is a big one - you can't be on and off or you're not going to qualify, you have to be consistent.

What was it like to win the online qualifying tournament for North America?
Man was I happy! It was the first ever videogame accomplishment I had, but coming into it I knew I could do it, I just never knew that FIFA had these tournaments, or I would have qualified in the other years probably. I have always been good at FIFA and for me to find out about this tournament and qualify on my first try out of the North America region was unbelievable.

Who was your hardest opponent and why?
Ehh, nobody really, I was too good. But if I had to say, maybe somebody from Europe.

How have you been training for this year's tournament?
Well, this year I haven't played as much. I started playing but stopped to play something else, and then I started to get back into it again. Hopefully I'm not too late to end up qualifying. I'm just in time for the online qualifier for North America - that is a big help this year, adding that. I was thrilled to see it because qualifying globally this year would be hard because of the amount of time I haven't played and it would be hard to catch up.

Is there another FIFA gamer who you really want to compete against/avoid and why?
HAHA, there's nobody I want to avoid; they avoid me! I always try playing everyone such as in 08, but I get messages saying 'you're too good' or they just ignore me because they're scared. It's funny.

What was it like at the Grand Final in Berlin last year?
Probably the greatest experience I have ever been a part of, due also to me getting second, which made the experience that much better. It was breathtaking getting to the final on my first ever tournament and first ever FIWC.

Do you have any advice for the other competitors out there taking part in the FIWC this year?
To qualify, as I said before, be consistent and play every day, always try to get better even if you lose. The main thing is getting better each and every day. You can do that by playing higher ranked players than you and learning from them. In the grand final, the main thing is to be calm and play your game. Don't worry about the cameras and crowd or who you're playing, just play how you've been playing for the six months you were qualifying for.

For some reason I didn't have one bit of nervousness in the grand final this year, but that had to do with my cockiness and confidence in my game, as well as having nothing to lose. I was just happy after getting out of the first round and the last 16, because by getting that far it wasn't a waste of six months, haha.