Ajax are the 2023-24 KPN eDivisie champions after beating PSV Eindhoven in a thrilling finals on Sunday.
The team of PHzin and Levi De Weerd were forced to battle back from adversity playing against ManuBachoore and Emre Yilmaz before clinching the title. Despite the teams playing three games, a penalty shootout was needed to decide the winner.
PHzin and Levi have secured their spots in the eChampions League and the first-ever FC Pro World Championship, which they were already guaranteed. On top of that, they walked away with a cheque of €20,000 as prize money.
🏆 @edivisie Champions 23/24, best team of the Netherlands ❌❌❌🏆
2 tournaments in the year, 2 trophies!🏆
Deus é bom demais na minha vida, difícil descrever em palavras a minha felicidade, eu vim para Europa pra jogar esse campeonato, e eu venci. @nickdenhamer we work to… pic.twitter.com/oRb14m3H2s
— Paulo Henrique (@PHzin) March 30, 2024
With that said, let’s dive into the details of Sunday’s final played in front of a live audience in a sold-out arena.
A Recap of the KPN eDivisie Finals
Team Ajax started showing their dominance in the quarter-finals where they thumped Heracles 9-2. Levi started the thrashing by recording a 5-1 victory over Vince and then PHzin got the job done when he humbled Collin 4-1.
In another quarter-final tie, FC Twente managed a narrow 2-1 aggregate win over Feyenoord. 18-year-old Mika continued with his superb rise by beating veteran Berg 2-0. Tahla scored early in the second tie against Weerink but the 1-0 win was not enough to cause damage.
PSV Eindhoven’s Emre Yilmaz and ManuBachoore ran riot on Excelsior, thrashing them the duo of Luuk Wijdeveld and TyGoo513 7-3 on aggregate. Yilmaz beat Luuk 3-2 in the first leg before a relaxed Manu ensured they progressed with ease after recording a 4-1 win over TyGoo513.
The last quarter-final clash between AZ Alkmaar and PEC Zwolle was the most dramatic tie of all as PEC Zwolle fought back from 2-0 to win 3-2 and advanced to the next stage. Dijkies was defeated 2-0 by Chris De Boer in the first leg but that margin turned out to be a small one for his teammate Giobundyy who would win the second tie 3-0.
Giobundyy was once again pulling off a comeback in the semi-finals playing against PSV’s Manu as he turned a 1-0 scoreline to 3-1 to and reduced the deficit on the aggregate to -1 as his teammate had been beaten 4-1 by Yilmaz in the first leg. However, Manu fought back to level the scores 3-3, which saw PSV win 7-4 on aggregate.
In another semi-final tie, the dream team of Ajax proved to be powerful for FC Twente, winning 9-3 on aggregate.
How The Final Unfolded
We couldn’t ask for a better final than PSV clashing with Ajax. In the first match, Levi secured a narrow 3-2 win over Yilmaz. In a shocking turn of events, Manu ran riot on PHzin, thumping the FC Pro winner 4-1 in the second match.
This led to a decider where the Brazilian took an early lead from the penalty spot. However, Manu equalized towards the end of the tie, forcing extra time. He then broke into a 2-1 lead but PHzin scored a header with the last touch of the game to send the match into penalties where he triumphed.
The INCREDIBLE winning moment for @PHzin, @LevideWeerd and @AFCAjax_eSports ⚽️#FCPro | #KPNeDivisie pic.twitter.com/ndtqSGUEjH
— EA SPORTS FC Pro (@EASPORTSFCPro) March 30, 2024
The Prizes
As already stated, Ajax received €20,000 for winning the 2023-24 KPN eDivisie title. The remaining €20,000 was divided among the other teams which reach this season’s finals.
There were also individual awards, with Mounir El Kahtaoui winning the Rookie of the Season, Tom Dijkhuizen being awarded Goal of the Season and Emre Yilmaz claiming the PlayStation Assist of the Season.
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