This weekend was already primed to be a big one for NYCFC, what with the Hudson River Derby coming to Yankee Stadium, and all.
READ: 9 Reasons to Attend: Hudson River Derby
But across the pond, NYCFC will find themselves in a different kind of competition, and it will be our very own Chris Holly at the reins.
This Saturday, Holly will be competing in the FIFA Interactive Club World Cup (FICWC), an EA SPORTS FIFA 17 tournament featuring representatives from the top eSports clubs in the world, including NYCFC as well as Manchester City's Kez Brown.
Of the 24 players competing for their shot at the tournament gold in London, Holly is the only one repping an MLS team. In fact, he's the only player in the world repping an MLS team. So, are the stakes high? You bet they are.
In addition to a tournament gold and $20,000 in prize money on the line in this competition, the FICWC is the final qualification event for the FIFA Interactive World Cup Grand Final (FIWC) (yes, they're different things). This weekend, Holly will be competing in Group 2 of the Playstation 4 division alongside representatives from the likes of AS Roma, Schalke, and Paris Saint Germain for one of the final two FIWC qualification spots.
If Holly qualifies for the FIWC Grand Final—the Holy Grail of FIFA 17 competitions—he'll be competing against the very best players the world has to offer.
Held from August 16-18th in London, the 2017 FIWC Grand Final will feature the top 32 FIFA 17 players in the world. This year marks the 13th edition of the tournament, and will crown the winner as the official champion of FIFA 17. If Holly wins, he'll be the first MLS club player to take home the gold, and he'll also be taking home $200,000 for his efforts.
Holly did well in his last round of FIWC qualifiers, narrowly missing out on automatically qualifying for the Grand Final with a 2-1 aggregate loss in the knockout round after going 5-2-0 in the group stages. After losing the first leg of the knockout match 2-1, Holly hit the post twice in the second leg. As unlucky as that may be, he'll have a chance to make up for it this weekend.
You can watch Chris Holly rep NYCFC in one of the world's biggest FIFA 17 tournaments live on YouTube and Twitch Saturday morning.
For another dose of NYCFC action, don't forget to tune into the Hudson River Derby on Sunday.
