Puskas Award winner Wendell Lira crushed the best FIFA gamer on the planet

A really excellent story has emerged from the FIFA Ballon d’Or gala in Zurich last Monday.

Leaving aside Leo Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, two of the lesser known names at the event also made an impact.

Wendell Lira famously saw off Leo Messi to win the Puskas Award for the best goal of 2015.

Also present at the Ballon d’Or gala was Abdulaziz Alshehri, a 25-year-old from Saudi Arabia, and currently the number one FIFA gamer on the planet.

We have detailed previously how Alshehri played FIFA 16 against Kaka and met the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Hope Solo. But, revealed that Leo Messi was too scared to play the EA Sports football simulation game against him.

Reports in Brazil have now revealed that Wendell Lira is also pretty handy at playing FIFA and took on Abdulaziz Alshehri at the Ballon d’Or event.

Lira, playing as Real Madrid, emerged as the convincing winner against Alshehri, who was Barcelona.

The score: 6-1 to the Puskas Award winner!

Lira is an excellent FIFA player, and is understood to have put in plenty of practice on FIFA. He has won state championships in Brazil and was top of FIFA’s South American online rankings for 25 days in November.

Had Lira stayed top until the end of the year he could have taken part in this year’s World Championships.

Wendell was proud of his 6-1 victory against the best FIFA gamer on the planet, telling the Brazilian press: “I’ve always liked video games, and he [Abdulaziz] asked me to play. I ended up winning 6-1! But my focus is on football and I need to train hard.”

Despite his awesome Puskas Award goal, Wendell Lira is a journeyman footballer in Brazil and received no payment for winning the goal of the year award.

There are now suggestions that Wendell Lira will be asked to the FIFA World Championships later this year in New York.

Related: Priceless: Wendell Lira’s family reaction as he is announced winner of FIFA Puskas Award (video).