FUR brunovisqui: "Man City beat NRG, and I feel we're better than them—we can take on NRG"

With their backs against the wall, FURIA managed to reverse sweep R8 Esports this Thursday in their third Group D match, securing a 3–2 victory and clinching a last-minute qualification for the playoffs of the Rocket League Paris Major. The second South-American seed will now have no margin for error in the lower bracket of the playoffs, which begin this Friday at La Défense Arena in front of 20,000 spectators.

The Brazilian side will immediately face a major challenge, as FURIA are set to meet reigning world champions NRG in the opening round, after the latter were convincingly defeated 3–0 by Manchester City Esports in the group stage just a few hours earlier. The Brazilian team’s coach, Bruno “brunovisqui” Roschel Grandini, reflected in an exclusive interview with Sheep Esports on the course of the group stage and his expectations for the remainder of the tournament.

Bruno "brunovisqui" Roschel Grandini: “Right now, I don't have words to describe it. I’m just really happy because the last results we had, even in our region, weren’t so good and what we expected. But coming into this match and getting a reverse sweep shows us that we can do better. We have potential. We are a good team. And this is for me and for the players as well. What we showed in the previous matches wasn't enough. We want to prove our value and what we can do.

brunovisqui: The biggest problem for us throughout this tournament was confidence, because we came from our region as seed 2 after losing to MIBR. So we had to get some good results here to bring us back to this confidence level. And that was the main problem. Now that we have confidence, I think we can go further in the tournament. We are facing NRG, so it will be a tough match, but I'm looking forward to it.

brunovisqui: To be honest, I have no idea. But NRG is a good team. I think we can face them pretty well. Manchester City won against them and I feel we are a better team than them. So I think we can go head-to-head against them. And I don't know what will happen, but we will do our best.

brunovisqui: I think it's more about details, like what each needs, and try to make something more manual for each one. Try to get them to be in the match as good as they can be inside of the game, outside of the game. So that's what I look forward to do every time that I come to a Major. That's my job. I feel my job is to make them feel comfortable and play comfortably inside the game and outside of it. So that's what I want to do, and that's what I usually try to do.

brunovisqui: In the beginning of the team that was the main problem because FURIA was a top 4 team in every Major. I'm trying to get them back up, that's the main issue. And listening to others, that's I think that we are trying to like blind them about. So that's a problem, yes, but we are trying everything we can to make them comfortable again.

brunovisqui: Not really, I'm just really glad that we are playing inside of that amazing stadium. It's pretty nice out there. So I'm really looking forward to playing there and being as happy as I can there.

brunovisqui: I don't know, maybe like a few of them. But FURIA always has some really strange fans out of nowhere, like Europe, and they come from everywhere. Thank you for the support from FURIA, from the players, from the organization, from everybody, from the staff, from all the people that cheer for us, the supporters. So thank you for everything. We really hope to achieve better things from now on.

brunovisqui: I was a pro player. I used to play pro and I was a smart player, but not a very mechanical one. So when I became a coach, I was more of a tactical coach who tried to get everybody in the same line. After some experience, I have been a coach for about five years, I know now that it isn't only tactical or technical things that will change the game. It's more about putting them comfortable inside the match. It's hard to say what I do. As I said, for each individual, it's a different thing; it's the details. So I try to do everything I can. Tactically and also mentally. I try to be this coach, I know I have flaws, everybody has flaws, but I try to do my best every time.

brunovisqui: That’s a hard question. I think it’s stability because if you have stability even in the worst times, you will have faith that we will get better, the team will be better after some changes. Stability is the best thing because they look to me as a pillar. So I need to be this pillar for them and try to get them mentally inside and outside of the game.

brunovisqui: I expect us to do a good match. I won't promise anything. It's a match. But thank you to all the supporters. Thank you to all the fans, to my family, and to my players' families. I'm really happy to be here. I'm really happy to get this win for you guys. So see you in the next one.”