What a whirlwind it's been for Brazilian student Thiago Carrico de Azevedo. Flying in to Zurich on Saturday morning he could not have imagined he would become the first FIFA Interactive World Champion and meet some of the most famous names in world football. FIFA.com spent the day with the new World Champion as he went shopping in Zurich, received his award at the FIFA World Player Gala and met Ronaldinho…

The day started early for Thiago and the finalists of the FIFA Interactive World Cup. All eight were invited to the FIFA World Player Gala so they needed to be kitted out in new suits. On the coach at 9.30am to head down to Zurich's exclusive Bahnhofstrasse for some serious shopping, but someone was missing. It was Thiago himself, who was a little late in rising after the celebrations from the night before. As he finally boarded the coach he was met by the cheers of the other competitors.

"It's great with the other guys, they are my friends now," the smiling champion said as he gazed across snowy Zurich. "Yesterday after the tournament was over we all went back to the hotel and it was one of the best bits of the whole weekend - we all played the FIFA game, two against two just for fun, it was just so cool."

On arrival at the clothing shop PKZ, the wide-eyed finalists were taken around by their personal shoppers to choose evening suits. Some of the guys looked uncomfortable in such unfamiliar attire but not the champion from Paris, the Italian Massimiliano Lucchese. He enjoyed the attention of the assistants as he tried on all manner of trousers, while still wearing his trainers.

However for Thiago, who bears little physical resemblance to his hero Ronaldinho, a larger suit was required. So it was off to Gross in Grossen Grossen for a fitting. Once inside the door, Thiago was greeted with, "Ah hello! You're the interactive World Champion - I saw you on television yesterday!" from the tailor. Thiago's beaming smile, at least, was a copy of the Barcelona player's.

Eight gamers, eight new suits, shirts and pairs of shoes. Back to the hotel for a spot of rest and recuperation before the big night at the Gala. But the players didn't miss the opportunity for another friendly tournament before it was time to put those new suits to good use.

Once at the Zurich Opera House, Thiago was greeted by all manner of football figures including Honorary FIFA President Joao Havelange and CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer. Mr Blazer had clearly been enjoying himself at Sunday's final and was pleased to meet the winner, "Hey look, the two biggest men in football!" he joked.

Thiago then took his place in the front row at the Gala alongside Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry and Andriy Shevchenko, before receiving his award from Lothar Matthaeus. Surprisingly he didn't seem nervous on stage when giving his speech live to 120 countries: "I tried to be calm and think about what I wanted to say. It was great to meet Ronaldinho - I said 'hi' to him and 'congratulations' and he said 'hey man! you too.' It was fantastic to go to the Gala party. I met many of my heroes - Ronaldinho, Henry, Falcao, Joseph Blatter, Ricardo Terra Teixeira - so many famous people. It's been the best weekend of my life."

As the evening ended with Thiago dancing to Lionel Ritchie, his thoughts turned to home: "I don't know what I'm going to do next week, but I'm really looking tell my friends all about the weekend and show them the pictures. I know my Mum has recorded the Gala programme so I'll get all my friends round to watch it. And then I'll start practising for 2005!"