Brazillian player Wendell Lira quits real football to pursue virtual one

The winner of FIFA’s Puskas Award for the best goal of the year in 2015 has hung up his boots and picked up a controller.

The 27 year old Brazilian player, Wendell Lira, has cited injuries as one of the reasons, as he only played 4 professional games in 2016 for the side Vila Nova. Naturally his chosen esport will be the FIFA computer game title.

After winning the Puskas Award in 2015, Lira played against the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2015 winner, Abdulaziz Alshehri, and smashed him 6-1 to the surprise of many. Without having to train to play professional real life football, could this practice time for the virtual game take him to the top?