You may remember Wendell Lira, the Brazilian lower-leagues player who achieved international stardom for doing this:
Wendell Lira Goal
Lira won the FIFA Puskas Award, given annually to the scorer of the sickest goal of the year, but it turns out his best talent with a soccer ball may not actually be kicking it, but making virtual players kick it with an Xbox controller.
In November, Lira spent 25 days as the top-ranked FIFA player in South America, and after his Puskas win he played a FIFA game against the top-ranked FIFA player in the world, Abdulaziz Alshehri.
The score: Lira (Real Madrid) 6, Alshehri (Barcelona) 1.
Holy crap. Now there's talk of having Lira compete in the FIFA World Championship in New York later this year.
Who knows, he could add another major footballing award to his resume.
(H/T 101 Great Goals)
Contact The18 Staff Writer Sam Klomhaus at Klomhaus@The18.com or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus
