Umut Gültekin – commonly known simply as Umut – first developed an interest in FIFA because he wanted to be like his older brother. It wasn’t long until he was playing for much more than the family bragging rights, as he signed for Hamburger SV at 16 and was crowned PS4 champion at the FUT Champions Cup in Atlanta at 17.

In 2020, he moved to RBLZ Gaming, where he still plays to this day and has enjoyed plenty of success. The 20-year-old won the German individual championship title in 2021, then followed that with the German club championship with RBLZ in the Virtual Bundesliga the following year.

There has been heartbreak along the way, though. In FIFA 22, just a week after being knocked out of the eChampions League, Umut was beaten 5-0 by SV Freiburg’s DullenMIKE in the Virtual Bundesliga Grand Final and put his controller down with 10 in-game minutes remaining, being left inconsolable.

He still bounced back in the best way possible, winning the eWorld Cup final against Nicolas99fc. Umut kept his cool in a penalty shootout against The Iceman after a goalless draw, but the emotion was there for all to see once the spot kick was scored to make it 5-4.

There was also a billboard in Leipzig to celebrate the victory and Umut was congratulated by a number of Die Roten Bullen’s football players, showing just how much his victory meant to everybody in the city and the widespread joy esports can inspire.

FC 24 has brought more reason for celebration for Umut, as he made it through the FC Pro Open Global Qualifier despite defeats to BerkayLion and AbuMakkah in the Swiss Stage. After beating MUAE14, Lamps and K1john to reach the knockouts, he then got the better of BerkayLion and followed that with an emphatic 9-1 win against CameronRock to progress.

There will have been plenty of people watching, as Umut has also built up a following of 150k on Twitch and 114k on Instagram. So, while he likes to be in his own head and listen to music while playing competitively – getting his analysis before the match – there is certainly a community that can be enjoyed outside of his game time.

Those fans will be looking out for Umut on February 3, as he progressed through Group A in the FC Pro Open with the highlight being a 4-2 win over eventual table-topper Emre Yilmaz.