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White curtains drape the windows, pizza boxes overflow the recycling bin and weeds slip between the gaps in the garden path.
But if you look closer, you will discover something unique in this North London home: it houses a professional team of FIFA.
The AS Roma Fnatic has been installed at this address for six months. Its inhabitants live, breathe, practice and compete while they play the most popular virtual football game on the FIFA market.
As its name suggests, the team represents Italy's Serie A side AS Roma, but it is in fact largely driven by the powerful esports manufacturer Fnatic.
In 2018, the lucrative partnership decided to take another step in professionalizing its approach by creating the first FIFA home in the world.
"When you get to the front of the house, it does not seem like a team of players live here," said Colin Johnson, head of the team, at CNN Sport, honest enough to admit that very occasionally the team has disrupted the tranquility of the suburbs.
"Some neighbors have repeatedly shouted at us being too noisy when we celebrate, but most of the time we are pretty indefinite about our activities and activities here."
A paradise of play
Residents aged 19 to 24 are made up of three professional players, their coach and the team leader.
Extending over three floors, this solution is equipped with all the modern comforts that could wish a millennium respectful of oneself. The living room is separated from the kitchen by a pool table and the patio doors open to reveal a hot tub in the back garden covered with grbad.
But it's the addiction at the end of the garden where the magic operates. An old games room has been renovated to create a paradise for high-tech sports.
Each of the three players has its own station, equipped with dual screens and several game consoles, which allows them to train everyday together under the direction of the resident trainer Enzo Serre.
Serre, 20, believes that their organization gives players an edge over teams that do not have such an installation.
"They will practice things they do not really think about at home," Serre told CNN Sport.
"FIFA is an individual game, they all play against each other, but the fact that we live as a team and act as a team, I think it really makes a difference compared to other organizations."
Get better
Sports houses are not new. The Fnatic League of Legends team, for example, lives and competes on a much larger scale in Berlin. It is only now that his FIFA team is benefiting in the same way.
In 2018, he became the first-ever FIFA champion in the Gfinity Elite Series after Conran Tobin, aka Rannerz, won the final. The team is establishing itself as a force to be reckoned with.
"Being in the same house means that we are going to improve much faster together and we can not learn just from other players," professional player Damian Augustyniak told CNN Sport.
"I have achieved things that I did not realize before, which was not going well, what was going well and what I should improve in my game."
Like his teammates, Augustyniak, nicknamed Damie, began his bedroom career – practicing sportsportation before realizing he was much better than his opponent.
The house has allowed him to develop his skills in an increasingly professional environment.
"I'm like the house father"
But living, training and competing in the same house can sometimes be difficult.
"Sometimes I feel exhausted," said Augustyniak, of Polish descent. "You just want to do something else, or sometimes even be with someone else."
The antidote to any potential burnout is a demanding schedule set by the team's manager, Johnson.
It's a schedule that includes visits to a local gym three days a week, mental coaching and regular FIFA training.
Johnson, nicknamed Cojo, moved to London a month before the rest of the team to set up the house and badumes much more responsibility than most 24-year-olds.
In addition to managing his finances, the American ensures that the house is supplied with food and also organizes activities to help the team to move away from its game screens, whether it is an outing in the cinema or a simple evening at the cinema. television.
"I'm like the father or the mother," he said in describing his role, which also includes the management of two other sports teams.
"We can somehow respond to their [players] all the needs and all their desires when it comes to competing and making sure that the only thing they really need to worry about is winning the FIFA games. "
Johnson admits that being in a position of authority vis-à-vis people of the same age can be a struggle, but his players are grateful for the role he's playing.
"I am 19 years old, I do not really look like an adult, so it 's really good to have someone who cooks sometime and someone who' s take care of yourself if you live well with other players, "said Simon Nystedt, player from Sweden. , whose player etiquette is Zimme.
As the youngest member of the house, Nystedt struggled to get away from his family, but he could count on the support of his teammates.
"It's just good for me because I always have someone to talk to when I'm feeling down, but I'm not feeling well." And also, it's very important to To have fun together, "he said.
Work against play
The head coach Serre has to find the balance between having fun and being productive.
He recognizes the difficulties of living with the people you work with, but says that the fact that the playroom is separate from the house helps somehow to remedy the situation.
"We can watch a [television] show and just after we go play a game and be in a serious state of mind, "he said.
"I think the configuration of the house really helps them to make a difference […] but it's not as good as if we had an office. "
But with the huge success of the team, it seems like the concept is here to stay.
Watch the video at the top of the page for the visit of the first FIFA home in the world by CNN
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