flameZ: "We have five great players, an excellent coaching staff, and a fantastic club. Right now, we're going through a tough period"

flameZ: "We have five great players, an excellent coaching staff, and a fantastic club. Right now, we're going through a tough period"

Vitality lost to Spirit with a score of 1-2 and finished 5th-8th at the EWC 2026. This marks the fourth consecutive tournament where the French team has failed to reach the top 4.

Vitality player Shahar "flameZ" Shushan commented to HLTV on their loss to Spirit in the quarterfinals of the Esports World Cup 2026, evaluated donk's play on Mirage, and discussed the team's form slump.

On the Loss to Spirit
flameZ noted that Vitality couldn't get into the game on Anubis in time, and on Nuke, the team made a few mistakes but still managed to take the map.

On Mirage, he said the team kept fighting, but donk's individual performance was the decisive factor.

Sometimes you just have to acknowledge individual skill. Today donk took the game on Mirage.
Shahar "flameZ" Shushan

The Israeli player highlighted that the Spirit player consistently found opportunities for opening kills, often making two to three frags on entries. Combined with the opponent's strong AWPer play, this made the map extremely difficult for Vitality .

When a player of that level consistently makes two to three opening frags, it's really hard to deal with.
Shahar "flameZ" Shushan

According to flameZ, Vitality has often won matches thanks to individual brilliance from ropz and ZywOo , so this time the team simply fell victim to similar individual skill.

"Especially Painful That It Happened in Paris"
Before the match, Vitality had a streak of six consecutive wins against Spirit , with the last loss to this opponent dating back to October 2024.

flameZ admitted that breaking this streak in Paris was particularly painful.

It's very unfortunate that this happened in Paris. We wanted to perform well for the club, our French players, and fans.
Shahar "flameZ" Shushan
The player added that Vitality expected a tough match, as both teams are currently not in their best form. However, this time Spirit managed to seize the crucial moments.