Portugal and SAW did it for the first time.
Portugal has its first team in a Counter-Strike Major, SAW. The team qualified for PGL Major Copenhagen after a victory against FNATIC.
SAW was 0-2, one game away from elimination in RMR Europe A, but turned things around. Portugal will have the first team to support in a Major after several attempts.
Troubled journey for Portuguese from SAW to the Major
The Portuguese team had a turbulent journey in the qualification process for the Major. The two crushing losses to Virtus.pro and 9 Pandas put SAW in limbo. However, in the following clashes SAW looked like another team with convincing performances.
First it eliminated NIP from the competition. Next, Enterpise with two very comfortable maps.
SAW vs fnatic results (Vertigo and Overpass)
Team 1 Team 2 Map 1 Map 2 Map 3 Score | SAW FNATIC Vertigo (13-5) Overpass (13-4) Ancient 2-0 |
It was up to SAW to overcome FNATIC to guarantee the first presence of a Portuguese team in a Major ever. The previous day, the team had seen two of its former players, Renato "stadodo" Gonçalves and Tiago "JUST" Moura, guarantee qualification against the same FNATIC.
On the first map, Vertigo, João "story" Vieira, the Portuguese AWPer, was unstoppable. The young man finished the series with a rating of 2.06, 23K-9D. On the second map, Overpass, the story wasn't much different. The big difference in the score remained with the story once again "floating" on the map.
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Happy ending to the history of Portugal, SAW and Major
In 2022, in the RMR Europe A qualification for the PGL Major Antwerp, SAW was seconds away from the historic feat. At 2-2 in the decisive match, SAW lost against Outsiders (Virtus.pro). History has left the defuse guaranteed over time by the Russians to take the game to overtime.
SAW and Portugal finally have a team at the Major after several failed attempts.
Portugal and Majors
This is a special Major not only for SAW but also for Portugal. For several years the country had Ricardo "fox" Pacheco as the only player to represent Portugal in Major Counter-Strike competitions. Although the country had other representatives in coaches such as Hélder "coachi" Sancho and Gustavo "Juve" Alexandre, the local scene demanded more representatives in the Major.
With KOI, stadodo, and JUST secured a place in the PGL Major Copenhagen and expanded the list of Portuguese women in the prestigious competition. Today, SAW expands that list not only in terms of players, but also has the unique feat of having a Portuguese team in Majors.
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