MOUZ crush FURIA in semi-final rematch

The international side are headed to their first grand final since before the summer break.

The second semi-final of IEM Rio 2024 has drawn to a close, with MOUZ emerging victorious over crowd favorites FURIA in a dominant 2-0 fashion to earn a place in the BO5 grand final versus Natus Vincere.

This match was the second meeting between MOUZ and FURIA in Rio de Janeiro, with Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo's men previously coming out on top with a 2-1 scoreline in Group A's upper bracket semi-final.

"It felt like we were in control throughout the game," shared MOUZ AWPer Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás in a post-match interview. "In the beginning, it was a little bit frightening to play in front of this crowd, but in the end, we managed to keep calm and win it."

"It would mean a lot to the team and the organization to lift this trophy, and we will do it, I'm sure. I think versus NAVI will be a great, close game, especially a BO5. We will make sure that we will show up."

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Despite this result, FURIA bow out of IEM Rio 2024 with one of their best results in recent memory, taking down three top sides to secure a semi-final berth. Before this, FURIA's last semi-final placing in a Big Event was nearly two years ago, at the 2022 Rio Major.

Date	Matches
IEM Rio 2024
07/10/2024	FaZe Finished 7:13 FURIA	Match
07/10/2024	FURIA Finished 2:1 MOUZ	Match
09/10/2024	FURIA Finished 2:0 Natus Vincere	Match
12/10/2024	FURIA Finished 0:2 MOUZ	Match

MOUZ are also enjoying one of their best results in recent months, having struggled to reach grand finals in recent months, with their last final being in mid-May at BetBoom Dacha Belgrade.

Date	Matches
IEM Rio 2024
07/10/2024	MOUZ Finished 13:11 paiN	Match
07/10/2024	FURIA Finished 2:1 MOUZ	Match
08/10/2024	MOUZ Finished 2:0 Complexity	Match
09/10/2024	FaZe Finished 1:2 MOUZ	Match
11/10/2024	Vitality Finished 1:2 MOUZ	Match
12/10/2024	FURIA Finished 0:2 MOUZ	Match

The first map of the one-sided series was FURIA's pick of Nuke, where the Brazilians bagged the opening pistol round but were denied the conversion thanks to a successful force-buy from MOUZ. FURIA managed to bag another round thanks to a fast A site hit, but those two rounds would be all they were capable of winning throughout the first half.

FURIA snatched the second pistol round after the side swap, but were again not allowed to convert, with MOUZ stealing away their map pick shortly thereafter.

MOUZ's pick of Mirage was equally as dominant for the international side, as FURIA once again was only able to bag three rounds on their CT-side. A pistol round win for MOUZ served as the death knell for the series, as the Europeans marched ahead to another 13-3 victory.