AN E-LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN

The Celtic FC Esports team on representing the Hoops, visiting Paradise and hitting the target in this year’s eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer campaign

- JOE DONNELLY

ESPORTS, also known as electronic sports, is a form of sport competition using video games. One of the most popular football video games used by esports players is Pro Evolution Soccer 2020, and the game’s developer, Konami, is one of Celtic’s official partners.

The Celtic FC Esports team – Yos Sonneveld, Yan Sonneveld and Jorge Chaves Cristobal – don the Hoops during each competition they enter, and represent the Treble Treble champions in competitive tournaments the world over.

In order to consistently perform in PES 2020 at the highest level, the club’s trio of professional esports players are required to train for several hours a day, and compete in high-pressure tournaments that are viewed online by millions of people.

“There’s definitely more to professional esports than sitting on your backside playing video games all day,” said Yos Sonneveld, who goes by the pseudonym, ‘Indominator’. “We practice every day, and we’re always trying to maximise and make our sessions as efficient as we can. We tend to train online with other teams and players from the PES 2020 eFootball Pro League, in order to keep ourselves sharp at the highest level.

“Mostly, we train every day from home between 6pm and 10pm, and we communicate remotely via headsets. Throughout the day, we’ll also be working on other PES content, such as the skills tutorial videos we have on the official Celtic FC YouTube channel.”

Competing in the PES 2020 eFootball Pro League sees Yos, Yan and Jorge locking horns with some of the best PES esports players in the world. Competition is stiff, which has seen the Celtic FC Esports team get off to a chequered start – losing back-to-back games with FC Schalke and then conceding a late equaliser against FC Nantes in the match that followed.