FURIA's player, Felipe "skullz" Medeiros, shared his excitement after the team advanced to the playoffs of the IEM Rio 2024 Counter-Strike 2 championship. In an interview with HLTV.org, Medeiros admitted that playing in front of a home crowd had been a lifelong dream.
"This means so much to me. Ever since I saw the announcement for IEM Rio and the Major, it became my main career goal – to play in front of an audience in my own country. It's incredible, a dream come true, and I can’t wait to play in the arena."
The Brazilian player also reflected on FURIA's recent performances and praised the coaching staff for their hard work.
"It’s been three months now, and we’ve had some pretty good results, aside from Cologne, where we faced some difficulties. At the same time, Cologne was the first event where we consistently faced Tier-1 teams.
After Cologne, we had BetBoom Dacha, where we played some good CS, but at the latest bootcamp, we slightly shifted our mindset. Our coaches did an amazing job, coming up with new ideas for us, and so far, everything’s working quite well. We just need to keep working on it and continue to develop as a team."
IEM Rio 2024 takes place from 7 to 13 October 2024 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The tournament has a prize pool of $250,000, shared among 16 teams, with the winner also earning a spot at IEM Katowice 2025. FURIA will face NAVI in a match to secure a spot in the playoff semi-finals.