Giuseppe Guastella had all the tourist spots mapped out in his first trip to Manhattan, including Times Square and the Statue of Liberty.
Seeing the sights will be even sweeter for the Los Angeles Galaxy fan from Ukiah, Calif., after he captured the U.S. final of the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2009 at the Sony Wonder Lab in midtown Manhattan Saturday afternoon.
Thanks to a dramatic win on penalties in the final, Guastella will get to do some more sightseeing -- in Barcelona, Spain, where he will play in the FIFA Interactive World Cup Grand Final along with 31 other players from around the world on May 2.
"It's exciting," said Guastella, who can lay claim as the top EA Sports FIFA 09 player in the U.S. "I can't wait to go to Spain, can't wait to play in that tournament."
The world champion receives $20,000, a brand-new Kia Soul and a chance to rub shoulders with some of the greatest players in the world at the FIFA World Player Gala 2010.
Alfonso Ramos, a 19-year-old from Spain, is the reigning world champion.
"I would like to see Alessandro Del Piero or Luca Toni, hopefully one of the Italian players," said Guastella, who is also a fan of Juventus and the Azzurri.
With former Major League Soccer star Carlos Valderrama, Heather O'Reilly of Sky Blue FC of Women's Professional Soccer and New York Red Bulls players Andrew Boyens, Nick Zimmerman and Matthew Mbuta on hand, eight finalists from across the country qualified from conference finals in Los Angeles and Baltimore to get to the final.
"We're all about recreating the real sport, but there's nothing more appealing to an average soccer fans who can see one of the legends like Valderrama or someone who is currently playing like Heather O'Reilly," said Clive Gorman, worldwide product manager of EA Sports. "That makes it far more appealing for some of the audience who were there."
Two online winners, Guastella and Michael LaBelle, last year's U.S. champion, met in the final.
LaBelle came in as the favorite, but Guastella came away with the title as the underdog, much to the delight of the assembled crowd.
"(Usually) it's just you and your TV, that's it," Guastella said. "Here there were people and football legends watching you. It was amazing."
One of those spectators was Zimmerman, the Red Bulls rookie midfielder who considers himself an experienced gamer.
"I've been known to dabble," Zimmerman said. "I'd say I'm competitive. I don't like to lose."
Zimmerman also thought LaBelle would come away with back-to-back titles, but Guastella pulled off the upset, winning 7-6 on penalties after the game ended in a 1-1 draw. Both players used Manchester United as their team of choice and Guastella saved the final PK to claim the win.
"When I was about to play I was nervous, but after the first five minutes I got over it," Guastella said. "But in the PK match I was very nervous."
One of the biggest thrills of Zimmerman's young career is being featured in the game.
"To be in the game is a pretty neat feeling," the former James Madison standout said. "When I was younger I always said it would be great to be in FIFA one day."
Zimmerman doesn't think he's in the same class as Guastella and LaBelle, but he said he'd probably hold his own against his teammates.
"Khano (Smith) and Dominic (Oduro) like to play," Zimmerman said. "Andy (Boyens) said he doesn't play, but whenever he says he doesn't do something, he always winds up being the sleeper so I don't believe him."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
