FalleN and sidde on FURIA’s loss to Vitality - IEM Rio Interview

We caught up with FalleN and sidde after FURIA’s loss to Team Vitality in the IEM Rio playoffs, the day after the Brazilian captain announced he will retire at the end of 2026. FURIA face Team Falcons tomorrow. Below, both conversations in full, first with FalleN and then with sidde.

FalleN: “People now have the chance to live this phase with me”

You guys had probably the biggest wall of the tournament to face in Vitality, arguably one of the best teams in history. I wanted to understand your perspective as captain and IGL, how do you prepare, not just inside the game but mentally, for a match like this? And especially playing in Rio, in front of your home crowd, how did you prepare yourself and your team for this one?

The preparation was similar to what happens at any other tournament. It was serious preparation, with a lot of quality hours. What we usually do is take three, four hours on the day before the match, watch a lot of the maps we believe are going to come up in the series, and prepare based on what they do, what we do, sort of trying to cross-reference some new ideas. We want to go into the game with this and this, we imagine this could happen, focus on what they like, focus on what they don’t like. So we have an idea of how the game is going to play out and we go with it. The preparation was identical, it usually is for every game.

As for playing in front of the crowd, there is no real way to prepare anyone for that. For us to tell molodoy and YEKINDAR, “hey, this is different, the Brazilian crowd is going to be louder than you’re used to”, and they were like: “no man, how could it be different? A crowd is a crowd, we’ve been to plenty of arenas.”

And then when they got in there, the game started, and said “yeah, this is different”.

There are moments when we can’t even hear each other in the game. So there’s a part you can prepare for the same way every time, and there’s a part you just have to live to experience.

FalleN, about your career, as you said yesterday during your speech, which actually made me cry down there in the audience, and not just me, but half the arena. It was the most I’ve ever seen men crying at the same time in my life. I wanted to ask you, as a captain, as someone who’s been playing CS for over 20 years, how do you arrive at a decision like this? A bit about how you built up to “okay, this is going to be the moment I announce it”, and how you’re preparing for this new chapter, which I imagine will be almost like a sabbatical, enjoying some of your life, and maybe coming back to CS in some capacity later. I wanted to know a bit about that process for you.

Yeah, in terms of career, things were unfolding. For the past four, five years I was already thinking, trying to identify if I still wanted to play, what else I had to chase. And the feeling that was always there is that I wanted to take a new team to the top. I was able to achieve that with the guys in 2016 and 2017, and during all the other years it was an attempt to make it happen again. I ended up doing it with the international boys. Last year we won four tournaments, reached the top of the world. And when we got there, it hit me, you know? Alright, I did it. And then there was even a moment when I won a championship and said, “okay, now? Now what do I want to do tomorrow?”. Because I already achieved it. And then you’re left with that question. Do you play more or not? Because the team is really good, it’s winning. When the year turns, do you want to come back playing with them or do you put someone else in?

So I felt this team deserved a longer stay and I decided to play six months or a year this year. With the FURIA management, thinking about how to do this, and with friends too. Fly, who works with me and is my friend, said: “man, people deserve to know when your last game is going to be, because if suddenly you’re playing until June and the month just ends, and it’s like ‘alright guys, I’m not playing anymore’, that would feel kind of hollow. People should have the chance to live this phase with you.”

That was the first point that led us to do it the way we did here. And the idea of doing it at IEM Rio was Akkari’s. I personally thought it was interesting, and I was a bit worried because it’s a very emotional thing. Sometimes we can’t imagine how it’s going to go, but I had an idea of what it would be. When they asked me, “do you want to do it on match day, do you want to do it after the final, do you want to do it before?”, I said, “man, if we have Friday, let’s do it Friday already, because who knows how it’s going to be.” So that was basically it. I think people now have the chance to follow these last 246 days, today, 45 tomorrow against Falcons.

And there will be more exciting days, sad days, happy days. But there will be many days wrapping up this work I’ve done for many years. I think the fans will enjoy living this with me, so that afterwards we can move on to other things. This chapter of my life will be left behind, but there are many others to begin.

You mentioned the sabbatical, right? The time off. I don’t know if I can stay still for that long. My head is always going a thousand miles an hour, there are already millions of projects to do, millions of opportunities. But one thing is certain, I’ll always be looking at how I can help other people have their lives impacted by CS, which is the game I love the most, and also by other games. How do we get other people in Brazil to experience something cool through games? And with the voice I’ve built, the space I have to work with, the ideas I have, I’m sure there are many projects where I can help people from Brazil become our next heroes, win tournaments and change their lives through the game.

FalleN, I’m done with the interview, I just wanted to have this bit of time to tell you something. You are, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the biggest inspirations, not just for me but for many people in this ecosystem. My eyes are welling up, and I just wanted to tell you, personally and on behalf of my whole group of friends, thank you so much for all these years. And honestly, all the best. May everything go well from here on out.

Yeah, at the end of the day that’s the real beauty of it, because the trophies, many years later, only stay for the ego, you know? “Oh, I was champion of this, champion of that, or I wasn’t”. People ask, “are you going to be sad if you don’t win in Brazil?”. That’s just ego. Because in the end what matters is so much more than the trophies. It’s that feeling of, I don’t know, we do these things and we can’t imagine what will happen. That you come into an arena, there are so many people watching you, there are people crying because they saw you, there are people coming from another city to meet you. And that feeling that they’re your friend, you know? You’ve never seen the guy, but he talks to you and everything. So, I don’t know, that’s worth a lot, more than the titles. And I’m happy for what you shared. I hope to keep doing cool things, everyone. That’s my goal, to find my happiness and help others be happy too. Thanks, thanks.

sidde: “We faced the greatest team of all time today”

We knew Vitality was probably the biggest wall to face in this tournament. Even so, the two maps were close. I wanted to get your view on the rest of the matches in the tournament, and this one, obviously. Vitality have absurd firepower, there’s the ZywOo factor, which is just hard to deal with. I wanted your perspective as coach, how would you, or what was the strategy to try to overcome Vitality?

First, about the other matches here, our build-up in the tournament happened gradually. We had a match against PassionUA, which was a slightly lower-level opponent compared to the others we played, but we imposed ourselves, did our best in that match and won 2-0. Then against NAVI, honestly we were a team that, you could even argue we should have lost, but we had the mental resilience. So for me as a coach, I always try to evaluate what difficulties we overcame in the group stage on the way to the playoffs, and for me it was the perfect build. We had a game where we did what was expected of us, then we had a second game where we had to dig deep, and then we had a game with a lot of dominance, which was against MOUZ. So coming into this match we were pretty confident, but today we faced the greatest team of all time, and we weren’t at our best, honestly. Individually, we fell behind. If we had been on our A-game, let’s say, we could have won. It’s on us.

Tomorrow you play Falcons, another team with absurd firepower. Do you have a specific strategy for facing opponents like these, or is your approach to the game similar for whatever team you play?

It’s similar. Obviously the way the team plays changes, so the way we approach the game will be different, but in general we face every top opponent with the same level of intensity and preparation.

Last question. Playing in Rio de Janeiro, in front of the Brazilian crowd, is probably an experience few people will have in their lives. I wanted a bit of your perspective on what it feels like to be behind the computers, behind the screens, and see this whole crowd behind you.

It’s beautiful. The party is beautiful, it’s a dream come true to play here. The crowd brings an extra factor that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world. I’m really happy to, really proud to be Brazilian and happy to be able to play here. I know we should have given back more in terms of results, but it’s beautiful to play here. The crowd changes the game, makes the experience magnificent, and nobody forgets it for the rest of their life.

FURIA face Team Falcons for the third place tomorrow at IEM Rio.