Efootball - hobby or profession? Where to start and how to improve your skill? How to become a successful player?

27.10.2022 15:30

Former player of the Ukraine national team in FIFA discipline in 2021-2022, Andriy CIG_ST92 Shakalov, shared his path in efootball.

On average, children aged 11 to 18 spend three and a half hours a day on esports. Parents are increasingly inclined to believe that esports help develop skills that will be useful to their children in the future. This is evidenced by the results of a survey conducted this year in the UK.

Among the important skills that popular among teenagers and developed through esports are teamwork, problem-solving, technology interaction skills, confidence, communication with people, creativity, flexibility/adaptability, and leadership.

Efootball is one of the directions of esports that has the potential for development in Ukraine, as thousands of Ukrainians spend their leisure time playing football simulators.

The Ukrainian Association of Efootball promotes efootball at the national level by holding competitions in two disciplines - FIFA and eFootball, and selecting the strongest players for the national teams. However, it is important that as many gamers as possible appear throughout the country who would feel the prospect of transitioning from common gaming to professional play.

So what is efootball - hobby or profession? Where to start the path in efootball, and how to improve the skills? How to become a successful efootball player?

Andriy CIG_ST92 Shakalov, who became a player of the Ukraine national team in FIFA at the age of 16, shares his story with the UAEF.

The first steps in efootball

— I started playing at the end of 2019. At first, I watched videos of European FIFA players. Later, I began to take part in tournaments in anti-cafes and other similar places. Later, when I got to the first serious tournament, I realized that this was more than just a hobby and that I could achieve more in efootball.

At first, there were conflicts with parents about this. But later, my mother saw that I was good at it and that something could come out of it, and began to be more loyal to my hobby.

I am self-taught, I looked for tricks and invented how to play better and become more competitive.

Skill training and development in the field

— In my opinion, efootball allows you to improve the speed and quality of decision-making in various situations. If you play in a team, mutual understanding is established, which is necessary for difficult competitive conditions.

Motivation in efootball needs to be sought from the perspective of what you can achieve in the future. A real efootball player must have psychological stability.

I practice efootball for three to five hours a day. Before tournaments, a special format of training is added to this time.

I try to play more often with strong European players. I'm looking for new working tactics and tricks that can be unbalanced in crucial situations during top matches.

It is necessary to participate in high-ranking tournaments, starting from local, national, and ending with European ones. Only then will esports organizations notice you and offer contracts and cooperation.

Prospects of efootball in Ukraine

— Recently, there has been a clear vision of how efootball should develop in Ukraine to take it to a new level. But the war has suspended this process. There are about ten professional players in our country who can show something at a high level. We communicate and share tricks that can help us in important game situations.

I believe that if it were not for the eUPL, which was announced last summer, no football club in Ukraine would have collaborated with its own efootball player, as has been practiced in Europe for a long time. Considering the difficult times our country is currently going through and the fact that efootball is unprofitable in this situation, it is unlikely that this process will develop in the near future.

But most importantly, believe in yourself and don't stop halfway in realizing your dream, because time is ticking, and competition in this field will only grow!