Tiësto, Sebastian Ingrosso Win Big At EDM Soccer Match

Afrojack helps lead Tiësto's Team Netherlands to victory in charity matchup at Miami Music Week; MTV News catches up with the DJs.
By Akshay Bhansali

Tiësto
Photo: MTV News

MIAMI — Fans at Miami Music Week are typically treated to the spectacle of their favorite dance music artists performing a flurry of gigs at South Beach's many pools and nightclubs. More recently, a mini-festival or two has also cropped up, but it was definitely a first to hit the boardwalk and find some of our favorite EDM artists engaged in a highly competitive (but friendly) game of soccer.

That was the case on Wednesday at a small field near the Fontainebleau hotel, and it was all for a good cause. Sweden's finest battled it out against the mighty Dutch, with Sebastian Ingrosso and Tiësto, respectively, leading their teams. MTV News caught up with the two captains after the game and they explained how they came up with the idea and corralled their fellow DJ/producers.

"We always talk about football, and we were teasing each other, 'Oh, we should do a match!' " Tiësto told us post-game on Wednesday. "And I was like, 'Let's make it official. Let's make a great match at Winter Music Conference,' because this is the perfect opportunity because all of the DJs are here!"

"He called me and said, 'Can you put together a team?' and I said, 'Yeah, sure,' " explained Ingrosso, one third of Swedish House Mafia. "Talked to the guys and put together a nice team, and [Tiësto] put together his team and now we are here."

The Swedes — including Alesso, AN21, Otto Knows, Adrian Lux, and Dada Life's Olle and Stefan all dressed in their native yellow and blue — took the early lead in the game against the Men in Orange. At one point, Team Netherlands — made up of Tiësto, Sunnery & Ryan, Nicky Romero, Afrojack, Quintino, R3hab and Sidney Samson — fell behind with the Swedes taking an 8 to 5 lead. In the end, though, even with the Dada gents scoring three goals between them, it was the mighty Orange (led by Dutch captain Tiësto) that scored the game-winning goal (final score:13 to 11).

"We did great!" a gracious Ingrosso exclaimed after losing the game.

"We looked good," Olle chuckled.

"Yes, we looked really good," Ingrosso agreed, before adding, "This all goes to a good cause. All of these shirts are going to be auctioned and all of the money's going to charity for RED."

Indeed, each artist's signed jersey is set to be auctioned with proceeds going to the Global Fund, which is the recipient of contributions to RED, an organization dedicated to fighting AIDS in Africa.

All told, the soccer game was a win for everyone involved. We even got to witness a dazzling display of defense by Team Netherlands' Afrojack. "I did notice that Afrojack has very good goal skills," Tiësto admitted. "He had some really amazing saves. Yes, he has his height but also his arms; it's almost impossible to score a goal against him."

"I'm a really good goalie?" Afrojack asked aloud when we caught up with him. "I blocked two balls and I let two balls go. So I'm not the best, but I'm OK. But this is a great way for DJs to work out, have fun, support a good cause and get some of their blood flowing."

Miami Music Week is going down, and MTV News is on the ground! Check back all week as we report from EDM's biggest parties, bringing the latest news from your favorite electronic dance music stars!

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