New England Revolution’s new professional EA Sports FC competitor Gonçalo ‘RastaArtur’ Pinto finished eMLS Cup Week 2025 in the top bracket.
For the second consecutive season, the New England Revolution signed a Portuguese player to represent the club in the eMLS Cup, which was held March 12 – 14 at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.
RastaArtur replaced João “Jafonso” Vasconcelos, who last year not only won the eMLS Cup with the Revolution but also grabbed the eSports World Cup title. Jafonso has since moved to Al-Nassr, the club that revolutionized Saudi Arabian soccer by signing global superstar Cristiano Ronaldo in January 2023 and has taken a similar path in the world of eSports.
RastaArtur and Jafonso were both signed through the Revolution’s partnership with global eSports team Luna eSports, which is partly owned by Diogo Jota, a Portuguese international who has been with Premier League leader Liverpool FC since September 2020.
“Yes, it’s the same connection, with Luna eSports, which partners with the Revs,” explained RastaArtur during his recent stay in this area. “I’m a Luna player and also in this case I’m with the New England Revolution.”
When RastaArtur was signed by the Revolution in December, Jota said he and Luna were excited to continue the successful partnership with the New England Revolution, after an incredible year of collaboration and achievements.
“Together we set new standards of excellence,” Jota said in a prepared statement. “As we move forward, we remain committed to building the success for both organizations.”
RastaArtur said he was in Foxboro for a week or so.
“I even saw a Revs game and some first-team practices for the first time, and I really enjoyed it,” he said. “It was my first time here in Boston and I really enjoyed it. I already knew the stadium [Gillette Stadium] because I saw some Patriots games, this taste for American sports is something I’ve had with me since I was young.”
A native of Lisbon, RastaArtur started his professional career in the FIFA 18 tournament and eventually won 10 national titles in the eLiga Portugal while representing a number of teams, namely Sporting CP, FC Porto, FC Arouca, and CD Nacional.
For those who are not familiar with eSports, RastaArtur explained that one needs to “just look at what soccer is, and this is a replica.”
“Let’s say, it’s a game and within that game there are competitions in which we play,” he said. “[Esports] is very similar to soccer. There’s the MLS, there’s the Liga Portugal, there’s the Spanish league, there’s the English league and so on. This year, I’m representing the Revolution. And that’s what it’s all about. It’s looking a lot at what soccer is and bringing a little bit of what is virtual as well. We use the cards of players who have already played or who still play. For example, [Johan] Cruyff, [Frank] Lampard, or for example Tim Howard have already played and then we can also use [Lionel] Messi.”
He pointed out that the sport is “a little bit the junction of what soccer once was, with this type of players, and also with the junction of what soccer is today.”
For some time now, sociologists have been expressing concern about the fact that young people spend countless hours a day playing video games with their friends. But eSports takes the sport to another level.
“Of course,” replied RastaArtur, when asked if playing eSports was enough to earn a living.
But he warned: “It obviously depends on the level of player you are.”
“It is exactly the same as soccer, and that is what I always like to tell people, so they think this way: the best players of the best teams receive much more than those who play in much lower-level teams,” he said. “In that respect, it is very similar to soccer. That amount you receive or the amount you earn in tournaments is always linked to your performances. And this is a sport which covers from the age of 16 to whatever age it might be. So, you can earn a living, but you will always have to be one of the best players in your country or internationally.”
To prepare for this super competitive eMLS championship, RastaArtur said he played close attention to a few things.
“The first is to understand what the teams are doing in the other leagues and look for a lot of what they do well in Spain, in Portugal, in England, and we also prepare against other players who will play in the same league,” he said. “And we do some pre-season games, and also internally with Luna Sports players, so that we can reach competitions at our best level.”
Paulo Neto, of Brazil, leads Atlanta United to a second eMLS Cup title
The eMLS tournament was held from March 12-14 at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, with the participation of the 14 MLS clubs that have an eSports team.
At stake was a $50,000 prize pool and two spots in the EA SPORTS FC Pro World Championship, which will be held this summer.
The tournament began with a round-robin group stage, with each team playing 13 games, as they had to face all the other 13 participants.
The bottom two teams were eliminated during the first two days. The top four advanced automatically to the quarterfinals and the remaining eight had a play-in phase.
Because he finished ninth in the opening round, RastaArtur faced Orlando City’s Lamps and won 5-3 to reach the quarterfinals. Next came the group winner, Guibarros, from the NY Red Bulls, a player who registered 15 consecutive victories, and he put an end to the Portuguese player’s ambitions.
In the final, Guibarros was beaten by Paulo Neto, of Brazil, representing Atlanta United, by a 5-4 score.
The two finalists secured a spot in the eWorld Cup, the EA FC Pro World Championship which will take place in the summer.
Neto, who had won the tournament previously, collected $20,000. Gibarros took home $10,000; PHzin (New York City FC) and Red Lac (Toronto FC) earned $5,000 each.
Last year, Jafonso, representing the New England Revolution, was crowned champion of the eMLS by defeating the representative of Inter Miami FC in the final.
The eWorld Cup will include the champions from the other leagues.
Portuguese community still hoping to see Revolution sign a Portuguese player to their MLS roster
The Revolution have been around for 30 years and during that time the Portuguese community has tried in vain to convince the club to sign Portuguese players, but so far, those efforts have been fruitless.
There was Sambinha, who was the captain of Sporting’s B team at the time, in 2016, but he made only two appearances before being released. Chiquinho Conde, a native of Mozambique who represented the Revolution in 1997, was promoted as being from Portugal because he played for a few teams in the league.
Then, there was José Gonçalves, who was born in Lisbon but moved to Switzerland at the age of two and never played in Portugal.
As for players who might have thrived in Portugal, local fans are still waiting. But, ironically, in eSports the club has signed Portuguese players in consecutive years.
“It’s a pleasure to represent the Revs,” said RastaArtur. “I just want to send a big hug to the Portuguese who are here, outside of Portugal, and I want to do a good job to dedicate to all these Portuguese people.”
