Sensible Soccer
FAQ\Strategy Guide
Author: Levi "Mediocre" Afridi
Author's Site: www.mediocre.uni.cc
Started: 9 June 2002
Date Of Last Revision: 20 April 2006
Version: 2.0
E-mail: [email protected]
Size: 42kb
________________________________________________

Table Of Contents
=================
1. Revision History

2. Introduction

3. Setting Up
3.a) Competitions
3.b) Options
3.c) Friendly Matches
3.d) Cups
3.e) Leagues

4. Teams
4.a) National Teams
4.b) Club Teams
4.c) Custom Teams

5. Defence
5.a) Basic Defense Controls
5.b) General Defence
5.c) Dead Ball Situation Defence

6. Offence
6.a) Basic Offence Controls
6.b) General Offence
6.c) Goal Scoring
6.d) Dead Ball Situations

7. Manager Tips

8. Custom Competitions
8.a) Cup
8.b) League

9. Customising Teams

10. FAQs

11. Credits

12. Legal

1.) Revision History
====================
0.1 - Started the guide. Very small amount done.
0.2 - Fixed some spelling and did some more.
0.3 - Finally listed teams in ranking order.
0.4 - Finished Defence and about halfway through offence.
1.0 - Finished Offence and changed some wording and fixed minor errors. First
public version.
1.1 - Added Manager Tips.
--------------FORGOT ABOUT IT AND DIDN'T DO ANYTHING FOR 9 MONTHS-------------
1.2 - Total rewrite of defence. Divided into 2 sections.
1.3 - Total rewrite of Offence. Divided into 3 sections.
1.4 - Added another section for offence, "Passing".
1.5 - Fixed lots of errors.
1.6 - More defense and offense tips added. Made team list more accurate. Maybe
     last update.
--------------OVER A YEAR AND A HALF SINCE LAST UPDATE------------------------
2.0 - New formating, and heaps of new info. Last file was 14kb, this one is
     42kb. New sections include setting up, custom teams and more! Added
     new info to almost all of the existing FAQ sections. Now the FAQ is
     complete game guide rather then just playing guide.

2.) Introduction
================
Sensible Soccer is an enjoyable and long-lasting soccer game. With three
different sets of competion teams (National, Club and Custom) each having
their own unique tournaments and leagues, the game is bound to keep you
playing for awhile. If that's not enough, you can even easily create
your own team you can with a custom uniform and player names. It's even
possible to create your own leagues and tournaments.

3.) Setting Up
==============
This part of the guide covers all the avaliable options and match types
available to you and how to set your match up. It however doesn't cover
creating your own teams or leagues/competions. Go to those respective
sections if you want more information on that.

3.a) Competions
---------------
At the main menu, you have three different competiotions you can select
as well as the options screen. Use the up and down directions on the
d-pad to scroll through the selections and press the B button to select.
Below is information on each competition:

National Teams - Play as soccer nations from all around the world such as
Italy, France and Switzerland. There is 40 teams to chose from. As well
as friendly matches or custom competitions, you can through any one of
six World Cup Qualifying Groups, the Maastricht Cup, League of Nations
or the EURO Championships.
Note: To cyle though World Cup Qualifying Groups, press either left or
right on the d-pad when it is selected.

Club Teams - Play as soccer clubs from all around Europe such as
Manchester, Milan and Glasgow. There is 64 teams to chose from. As well
as friendly matches or custom competitions, you can play through the
EURO Superleague, EUFA Cup, Cupwinners Cup or EURO-Cup.

Custom Teams - Play as soccer teams with completely fictional names such
as Fruit Town, Fish Athletic and Sensible XI. There is 64 teams to chose
from. As well as friendly matches or custom competitions, you can through
the Booby League, Turkey Tournament, Egg Cup or Chicken Leagues. The
players of their respective teams all have names relating to their team
name. For example, a player in Disk Errors is named Disk Not Validated.
It can be fun to see what sort of names the Sensible Soccer developers
came up with.

Note: Some of the leagues and tournaments for all competions are only
available on the normal or expert difficulty setting.

3.b) Options
------------
At the options screen, there are four options you can change. Simply
press B to cycle through the options available to each setting.
Below is information on each option:

Reset Battery Ram - Selecting this option removes any saved tournaments
or cups in process and all teams you have created or customised. Useful
if you want to "clean out" your game.

Game Length - Set the amount of time you play each match for. You can
select three, five, seven or ten minutes.

Menu Music -Turn the menu music on or off.

In-Game Music - Turn in-game music on or off.

Seasonal Weather - Turning this on makes the conditions of the field
change depending on what month it is. Different conditions influence
how the fast the game is, how easy the ball is to control, bounce, roll
length and roll speed. If turned off, you can select the pitch type
before a friendly match. If you want more realistic seasons and matches,
you should turn this on. Also gives the game some nice variety.

Difficulty Level - Choose from easy, normal or expert. Playing on easy
makes you face slower and less skilled opponents while all your players
can shoot with accuracy and dribble with control. Normal takes away
your players accurate shooting ability execpt for your "star" players
(more on them later) and makes your opponents faster and more skilled.
Expert takes away both your player accurate shooting and controlled
dribbling skills. Again though your star players can do both these.
Your opponent is fast and very skilled on the expert setting

Language - Choose the language of the game text from either English,
French, German or Italian.

3.c) Friendly Matches
---------------------
All three of the competions have friendly matches available. They are
simply a one of match between two teams. When you select the Friendly
match option, you can first set either the month or pitch type depending
on if you turned on the Seasonal Weather option. Once you've done this,
select "choose friendly match teams". To select a computer opponent,
press B on a team once and it will be highlighted over in red. To play
as a team yourself, press B on a team twice and it will be highlighted
over in blue. If you want to play a two player match, highlight both
teams in blue. Once you've selected the teams go to "OK". If you change
your mind and don't want to play a friendly, you can scroll right down
and an "abort" option will come up if you haven't selected two teams yet.
When you're back to the main friendly screen, select "Play Match" and
you'll be sent to a screen showing the teams who will be playing each
other and then to the management screen. Unless you are an experienced
player or really want to change strategy or players around, I suggest
you just select "Play Game". If you do want to learn about managing your
team, this FAQ has a section on that.

3.d) Cups
---------
Cups are basically round robin elimination tournaments so when a team
loses, they are out of cup contention. Depending on what cup you choose,
specific teams may only be avaliable, certain rules be on or off such
as away goals and the number of legs per normal round, semi-final and
final will vary. If you want information on custom cups, there is a
section on that you can view on this FAQ.

First there are some rules that those not so familiar with soccer may
not be aware of when it comes to playing in cups. They are listed below:

Away Goals - The away goals rule is a method of breaking ties in soccer
fixtures contested over two legs. In two-legged fixtures, one match is
played at each contestant's home ground, and the winner is determined
by the aggregate score — i.e. the scores of both games are added together.
If the aggregate score is tied, then under the away goals rule the team
that has scored more goals away from home is declared the winner.
If both teams have scored the same number of away goals, then the second
leg goes to extra time, after which the revised aggregate score
determines the winner. If both teams score an equal number of goals in
extra time, the away team will win on away goals. If no goals are scored
in extra time, then a penalty shootout decides the winner.
(Adapted from Wikipedia)

Legs - Each cup has either one or two legs played each round. If a two
leg round is played, two matches between the teams are played and the
team with the highest aggregate progresses to the next round. If the
aggregate is the same, either the "away goals" rule is taken into
account or extra time and/or penalty shoot out is played. The
normal rounds, semi-final rounds and final rounds may have a different
number of legs.

Extra Time - If a match ends in a draw, a small amount of extra time
is played to find the winner. If no winner is found after extra time,
penalty shoot out may take place or the match is arranged in a
"replay round". If a match is two legs long, only the second leg is
played with extra time.

Penalty Shoot Out - Each team gets five penalty shoots at the goal. The
winner is the one with the most penalty goals. If both scores are even
after five shots at goal, the shoot out becomes sudden death. If a
match is two legs long, only the second leg is played with a penalty
shoot out.

Replay Rounds - In one legged matches with penalty shoot out off, replay
rounds are arranged for each match that ended in a draw. If the replay
match also ends in a draw, then the penalty shoot out takes place.
A replay round is also arranged in a two legged round if the aggregate
is the same, penalty shoot out is off and the away goals rule is off
or both have scored the same number of away goals. Again ff the replay
match also ends in a draw, then the penalty shoot out takes place.

Below are the set rules, number of rounds/legs and
number of teams in each cup. Please note I had to do research on these
by playing through each one so if you find a mistake please let me know:

Maastricht Cup - 32 National teams are eligible to compete in this cup.
Extra time is enabled and penalty shoot outs are off. Five rounds long
with all rounds being one leg.

EUFA Cup - All 64 Club teams are eligible to compete in this cup.
The cup takes 6 rounds to complete, each being two legs long.
Away goals is on while extra time and penalty shoot out are on.

Cupwinners Cup - 32 Club teams are eligible to compete in this cup.
The cup takes 5 rounds to complete, all rounds except the final being
two legs long while the final is just one leg. Away goals is on while
extra time and penalty shoot out are on.

EURO-Cup - 32 Club teams are eligible to compete in this cup. The
EURO-Cup actually starts of in tournament form before later becoming
a league. The EURO-Cup takes 2 rounds before the eight remaining
teams are put into two groups of four. The two initial rounds are two
legs long. Away goals, extra time and penalty shoot out are all on.
In the league stages of the cup, each team plays the other teams in
their group two times each. During the league stages, two points are
awarded for a win and one for a draw. After the six matches, the top
qualifier from each group goes into the final.

Turkey Tournament - 16 Custom teams are eligible to compete in this cup.
Similiar to the EURO-Cup, Turkey Tournament actually starts of in
tournament form before later becoming a league. The tournament takes just
one round before the eight remaining teams are put into two groups of four.
Away goals, extra time and penalty shoot out are all on in the first round.
In the league stages of the cup, each team plays the other teams in
their group once each. During the league stages, two points are
awarded for a win and one for a draw. After the three matches, the top
qualifier from each group goes into the final.

Egg Cup - All 64 Custom teams are eligible to compete in this cup.
Extra time and penalty shoot outs are both disabled. Five rounds long
with all rounds being one leg. The first replay round has allows for
extra time but still no penalty shoot out. If there is a tie in the replay
round, another replay round is arranged. If a tie results for a third time,
then a penalty shoot out is played. The semi finals and finals are two
legs long with away goals, extra time and penalties all off. In these last
two rounds, up to three replays can be played.

3.e) Leagues
------------
Leagues are when the entered teams all play in one large poll or two polls.
Each team plays all the other teams in the poll a specified number of
times. The winner of the league is the one who ends up on top of the league
points table or a final is played between the top qualifier of each group
if there is two polls.

Each league competition gives one point for a draw and two or
three points for a win depending on the league. If teams have the same
amount of points, the team with the higher aggregate of "for" goals
compared to "against" goals will be ranked higher. For example, a team
with 9 "for" goals and 4 "against goals" would be rated higher then a team
with 7 "for" goals and 5 "against goals" even though they had the same
number of points because the first team had an aggr. of 5 while the second
team only 2.If you want information on custom leagues, there is a
section on that you can view on this FAQ.

Below are the number of teams, how many points for a win and how many times
you play each team for the different leagues:

World Cup Qualifiers - There is actually six leagues here, just press right
or left on the d-pad to scroll though them. Each group has six teams and
teams play each other twice adding up to 10 games per team. The first and
second ranked team qualify for the World Cup.

League of Nations - 16 National teams are eligible to compete in this league.
All teams play each other once before the winner of the league is chosen.
Two points are awarded for a win.

EURO Championships - 8 National teams are eligible to compete in this league.
The eight teams are divided into two polls. In each groups, the teams play
each other once each meaning three games for each team in poll play. The top
two from each poll then go into semi-finals and then the two semi-final
winners go into the final.

EURO Superleague - 20 Club teams are eligible to compete in this league.
All teams play each other twice before the winner of the league is chosen.
This means 38 games are played per team. Two points are awarded for a win.

Booby League - 8 Custom teams are eligible to compete in this league.
All teams play each other once before the winner of the league is chosen.
Three points are awarded for a win.

Chicken League - 2 Custom teams are eligible to compete in this league.
The two being Sensible XI and Renegade which are the two best Custom teams.
The teams play each other six times and three points are awarded for a win.

4.) Teams
=========
Although the teams and players have no statistics for their skills, there are
certainly teams that are better then others. The differences are speed, kick
power, accuracy, and goal kepper skill. Here is a rough list of the teams
in order of their skill from best to worst. As that was a list comiled only
by experimentation, contact me if you feel amendments should be made.

4.a) National Teams
-------------------
1.France
2.England
3.Holland
4.Germany
5.Italy
6.Romania
7.Sweden
8.Denmark
9.Czechoslovakia
10.Rep. Of Ireland
11.Spain
12.Portugal
13.Norway
14.Poland
15.Russia
16.Belgium
17.Bulgaria
18.N. Ireland
19.Iceland
20.Luxembourg
21.Slovenia
22.Scotland
23.Latvia
24.Switzerland
25.Croatia
26.Ukraine
27.Finland
28.Israel
29.Austria
30.Hungary
31.Greece
32.Albania
33.Turkey
34.Wales
35.Estonia
36.San Marino
37.Cyprus
38.Lithuania
39.Malta
40.Faeroe Isles


4.b) Club Teams
---------------
1.Milan
2.Lisboa
3.Milano
4.Eindhoven
5.Barcelona
6.Manchester
7.Kiev
8.Norwich
9.Bremen
10.Sofia
11.Highbyry
12.Luxembourg
13.Nicosia
14.Liege
15.Cardiff
16.Monaco
17.Moscow
18.Parma
19.Minsk
20.Aston
21.Athens
22.Madrid
23.Helsinki
24.Lazio
25.Paris
26.Amsterdam
27.Norrkoping
28.Riga
29.Geneva
30.Bucuresti
31.Oporto
32.Dublin
33.Cardiff
34.Turin
35.Tallinn
36.Dortmund
37.La Coruna
38.Budapest
39.Reykjavik
40.Moskva
41.Aberdeen
42.Tirana
43.Belfast
44.Nicosia
45.Glaswegian
46.Feyenoord
47.Zagreb
48.Istanbul
49.Vilnius
50.Vienna
51.Floriana
52.Glasgow
53.Torshavn
54.Anderlecht
55.Copenhagen
56.Antwerb
57.Trondheim
58.Parma
59.Tel-aviv
60.Marseille
61.Warsaw
62.Bratislava
63.Dortmund
64.Ljubljana


4.c) Custom Teams
-----------------
1.Sensible XI
2.Renegade
3.Grasshoper XI
4.European Cities
5.Enchanted XI
6.Nasty Things
7.Sad Things
8.Crimes United
9.Christmas City
10.West Germany
11.Chelsea
12.G.F.C
13.Great Wars
14.R.U.A Coder
15.Disk Errors
16.Norwich XI
17.Zoo Animals
18.Exclamations
19.Zodiac City
20.England
21.Bad Words Utd
22.Elements
23.Ancient Gods
24.Nibbles
25.At the Chippy
26.Dog Wednesday
27.Garden Birds
28.A Is For Atlas
29.On The Farm
30.Toolbox FC
31.World Currency
32.Dull Things
33.Pizza Toppings
34.Numbers
35.Chinese Food
36.The Joneses
37.Colour Albion
38.Australia
39.Fruit Town
40.Minor Counties
41.The S Team
42.Old Dear's Menu
43.Yawn City
44.Spicerack
45.Dance Craze
46.Bingo Forest
47.In A Pencil Case
48.Vegetables
49.Sandwiches
50.P'S And Q'S
51.Household UTD
52.Bad Spellings
53.Farewell United
54.Clothes City
55.The Big Band
56.Crisp Flavours
57.The Sweets
58.Nicknames Town
59.Sensible Games
60.Flower Power
61.Fish Athletic
62.Organs
63.Rubbish
64.Delicatessanian


5.) Defence
===========
Defence is obviously vital if you want to stop the opposing team from
scoring. Below are at first the most basic ways of defence and then
some useful strategies for slightly more advanced players to help
improve their game. Of course new players can try the useful strategies
but they may take a bit of practice.

5.a) Basic Defense Controls
---------------------------
D-pad - Move player.
A,B,C - Slide tackle/diving headbutt/headbutt ball.
Note: Obviously both the headbutts can't be used on opposing players.
They are used to parry and deflect the ball. A headbutt is done if
the ball lands on you from a height and you can do a diving headbutt
at the ball like you'd do a slide tackle. If the ball is in the air,
your player will do a diving headbutt instead of a slide tackle.

5.b) General Defence
--------------------
There are several ways to take the ball from the opponent. One is to
simply run into the player with the ball. This will either buffer the
ball away from the opposing player or you might just gain full control
of the ball straight away.

Another way is to slide tackle. To slide tackle, run at the player with
the ball and press A/B/C. Remember the dangerous slide tackling can
give away penalties or even earn you a red or yellow card. To minimise
the risk, don't slide tackle from behind or from too great a distance.

If you're really stuck at defence, you can actually just relax and
let the computer do it. Bear in mind the computer may not be as
skilled at defence as you might like them to be. The only way to
get better though is to try defending yourself. Don't worry to much
because the other computer players will back you up.

You generally don't need to worry about the goalie. He will try to
save anything on his own. When he receives a ball straight to his hands
though, you must decide whether to pass or clear the ball. You have
plenty of time here though as the opponets aren't allowed to put pressure
on your goalie when the ball is in his hands. If you pass the ball to
your goalie, you must dribble the ball with him. I suggest just kicking
it away if you are a beginner and in this situation. Read Useful Strategy
#6 below if you want to learn about controlling your keeper in a penalty
shoot out.

Useful Strategy #1: If you want to gain control of the ball rather then
just knocking it out of the opposing players control, try completely
getting over the ball rather then just touching the player. In doing
this you should gain control of the ball right away. If playing on a
difficult setting, pass/clear/shoot the ball right away so opposing
player can't get the ball back.

Useful Strategy #2: When the ball is open and under no ones control,
you can beat your opponent to the ball by using diving headers and
slide tackles. Using these give you a last minute speed boost over
your opposing number but if you miss the ball, it'll take some time
to get back up and your opponent will be away. Obviously you won't
gain control of the ball but this is very useful for gaining yards
and once you're really skilled you can do this to make passes.

Useful Strategy #3: Interceptions are difficult to pull off in this
game but you're in with a real shot of scoring a goal if you can get
an intercept. Unless you're lucky it will be very difficult to just
get an intercept on the run. Try though using your slide tackles
and diving headers to intercept the ball when you sense a pass. Doing
this can get you valuable yards or you might get lucky and get a pass
on to another member of your team. Interceptions are also great as
they disrupt the formation of the opposition, leaving you with a
great chance of scoring.

5.c) Dead Ball Situation Defence
--------------------------------
Not much you can do here but in dead ball situations, it's easier to
get an on the run intercept and even easier to get a sliding/diving one.
If you still don't think you're quite good enough for interceptions,
just prepare yourself for the kick and try to sense where he will kick
the ball. If you can do this, you can start a chase for the ball right
away. Try doing the same sort of thing for throw ins too.

Useful Strategy #4: You'll notice that when a penalty is given close to
your goal box, your team will make a line of four players. Try charging
down the ball. To do this, press the d-pad in the direction the player
who is taking the penalty shot is and rapidly press A, B or C. When the
oppositions kicks the ball, your four players will all slide or dive at
the ball and chances are you'll be able to deflect or parry the ball
away. As well as being effective, it's very easy to execute. However
remember that the player taking the penalty may pass behind him and
with four of your players on the ground, you may be in trouble. In saying
that though, from my experience they usaully opt for a shot at the goal.

Useful Strategy #5: This can be a bit risky but if your opponent has a
corner, send all your defenders flying by diving away from the goal
with slide tackles and diving headers. Chances are, the cross from the
corner will parry out of danger from one of your diving players.
Remember though that if all players miss the ball you could be in trouble.

Useful Strategy #6: You can control the goalie in a penalty shot
situation. Just push the d-pad in the direction you think the ball is
going to be kicked and your goalie will dive that way or stand ground
depending on whether you went to the side or not. If you don't press
anything, the computer will choose a direction to try. On the harder
difficulty levels, the computers chance of saving the ball is decreased
so you should take over when you put the game on expert.

6.) Offence
===========
Offence of course is key to scoring, hence vital to winning matches. Below
are at first the most basic ways of offence and then some useful strategies
for slightly more advanced players to help improve their game. Of course
new players can try the useful strategies but they may take a bit of
practice.

6.a) Basic Offence Controls
---------------------------
D-Pad: Dribble the ball and move your player.
A - Shot at goal/Clear ball/
B - Lob/Hard pass/Straight shor
C - Pass

6.b) General Offence
--------------------
To dribble, simply use the d-pad. On the easy difficulty setting, your players
have excellent control of the ball and will only lose it if you stop or it is
stolen by the opposition. So try to always be moving around with your player
to avoid losing the ball. On the expert difficulty setting, your players
other then your star players will have much poorer ball control. The best way
to keep control on expert is to not make sudden changes of direction and try to
dribble straight for as long as possible. No matter the difficulty setting, your
player will always have control if he's just running straight.

Passing is a useful way of getting the ball down the field without the
opposition getting the ball. It is also useful for setting up goals. To do a
pass, aim your player in the direction of the player you want to pass it to
and press the C button. Also, a well directed diving-headbutt or sliding
tackle can be effective ways of passing and catch the opponent off gurad.

To shot for goal, use the A button and your player will kick hard and towards
the goal. However on the normal and expert difficulty setting, only star players
will have this auto aim ability. With everyone else you'll need to manually line
up with the goal and press A to kick it straight. When thinking about scoring,
you don't need to always be close to the goal to have a high chance is scoring.
The key factors are positioning of you and the opposing goal keeper. Once you
get more experienced, you'll be able to figure out the best angles to shoot on.
For many more goal scoring strategies, just look at the section below.

When you have the ball down your own goal, probably the best way to get yourself
out of trouble is to press A which clears the ball from danger. On easy, this
will automatically aim it towards your opponents own goal but on the other
difficulties, you'll have to manually aim.

Useful Strategy #1: When someone is following you and you are going on a
diagonal, quickly change direction to the other diagonal. The computer will
attempt to slide tackle you but they will miss. This works best against medium
paced teams. Keep in mind that this is very difficult to do in expert because of
the poor ball control.

Useful Strategy #2: If a fast person is behind you and about to get the ball,
don't turn as he will steal the ball but instead keep going the way you are
going and wait until you can pass the ball to someone or you are in a position
to shot.

Useful Strategy #3: The computer tackle you from the side alot so run down the
sideline so if the computer tackles you, he will make the ball go out, giving
you a throw in.

Useful Strategy #4: The B lob/hard pass button can be very useful once you
gain the skills to use it. Use it to make long passes or make a short pass
which could be intercepted if you the accurate but slow pass. You can also
use the B button to set up or score goals, more on those below.

6.c) Goal Scoring
-----------------
Below are many different techniques I use to score goals. Of course none of
them will work all the time and some of the better ones may require a bit
of skill and practice. I've also included some "challenges" that are fun
to execute for those experienced with the game.

Scoring Strategy #1:Simply run to the penalty box and press shoot. This is
the easiest to pull off and pretty effective.

Scoring Strategy #2: Take an angle shot. Run diagonally and when you are
around the penalty box area, press B for a hard kick. Don't use the shot
button because you don't want auto-aim in this situation.

Scoring Strategy #3: Straight in the corner. This is probably the most
effective way if you are playing a useless team like Estonia. Run to the
penalty box so you are inline with one of the corners of the goal on a
vertical line and press B, the hard kick button.

Scoring Strategy #4: Heres another good way against poorer teams and it with
a bit of luck it may work on the stronger teams. When you get to just outside
the goal box, make sure you are  inline with one of the corners of the goal.
Now run to the opposite corner of the goal in a horizontal line and press the
A button when you reach the opposite corner. This draws the goal keeper to
the other side leaving a lot of open space for a scoring opportunity.

Scoring Strategy #5: Sidestep shoot. To do this, run at the goalie and just
before you touch him, run in a diagonal direction for a step or two and
quickly shoot.Difficult to pull off but almost always a success if you do
manage to do it.

Taunting goal. This way is not very effective but if you do it, it makes the
opponent look like a really really useless team. Run at the keeper and when
he comes out of the goal, move so your inline with a corner and don't shoot
the ball in but dribble it into the goal.

Scoring Strategy #6: Teamwork goal. If you have players around the goal box
area, this is a very effective way to score. Lure the goalie to a corner of
the goal and then quickly pass the ball to a player who is around the other
corner of the goal and then quickly press the A shoot button or get him to
slide tackle the ball in to ensure the goalie has no time to adjust.

Scoring Strategy #7: Longrange shoots. Take a shoot between halfway and the
penalty box and shoot. Not the most effective but very easy to pull off.

Scoring Strategy #8: The sliding tackle goal or diving-headbutt goal. This
is my favourite way of scoring goals. Around the halfway area, clear the
ball with the shot button and when your player is just behind the ball, use
a slide tackle or diving-headbutt to get the ball in the goal. This way is
also effective for a sudden change of direction which can fool the keeper.

Scoring Strategy #9: When the opposing team passes it to their own keeper
so he dribbles the ball, charge the goalie with a slide tackle. Never fails
unless you went in at a bad angle but the main problem is, you won't find
yourself in this situationvery much.

Scoring Strategy #10: The finisher. This is a difficult, but very effective
way of goal scoring. Aim for the post and kick the ball with the B button.
The ball will hit the post, and the keeper would've dived for it but will
now be on the ground. Then quickly get your player to put in the rebound.

Challenge #1: If you pass the ball to your own goalie, he will start
dribbling the ball. Make him run the field and score a goal.

Challenge #2: Don't shot for goal. Dribble it in instead!

Challenge #3: See how much goals you can get in one match. My record is
29 - 0 in a 3 minute easy match, Italy vs. Estonia.

Challenge #3: Try to force your opponents into an own goal by applying
plenty of pressure down their goal end. A bit of luck required.

Although this is a large list of ways to score goals, there's still alot more
ways. Expirement and you should come up with your own goal scoring stratergies.
If you do have a challenge and/or effective goal scoring stratergy, please
email me. You'll be given credit of course.


5.d) Dead Ball Situations
-------------------------
If you get a penalty shot which is one where it's only you and the keeper,
simply aim the direction you want to kick the ball and press the A shot button.
If you get a longrange goal shot, which is the one where a line of four
people try and block the shot, either press the A shot button or pass to a
teammate and try score. If you get a throw in, press C to do a small but
accurate throw, B for a medium accuracy and medium power throw or press A for
a big power no accuracy throw. If you get a penalty kick, the one where you
take a kick anywhere from the field you can shot, clear the ball but the best
option maybe to do a pass. If you are awarded a corner kick, pass to someone
or press A and try to get one of your players to either headbutt, dive
headbutt or slide tackle the ball into the goal.


6.) Manager Tips
================
Although being a good manager isn't vital to winning a game, it can help
you and give a good advantage. Here are some tips on managing your team.

When you reach the management screen before the game, you can swap players
round. Simply press B on the player you want to swap then select and press
B on the player you want to swap with. The formation diagram highlights
which player you're moving so you know the position you're placing the
player at. Each players position is also indicated with a letter beside
their name.

Formations are a very good way of getting a specific job done. They tell your
players where to stand on the field and how aggresive they should be. Here
are the formations and beside the name of them, you will see the type of
formation: 4-4-2 -   Allround formation
          5-4-1 -   Defensive formation
          4-5-1 -   Defensive formation
          5-3-2 -   Allround formation
          3-5-2 -   Allround formation
          4-3-3 -   Offensive formation
          Attack -  Offensive formation
          Defence - Defensive formation
To change formation before the game, access the main team menu and press B on
the formation you wish to use. To change formation during the game, triple
tap the d-pad when the ball is dead, press B on the guy moving his hand back
foward and then select the formation with the B button.

Substitutions are used when a player is either playing so bad they must just
come off the field, injured, a player has played well and deserves a rest or
you just want to give a benched player a g on the field. To make a
substitution during the game, triple tap the d-pad abd press B on the player
you want to bring of the field. Then press the B button on the player you wish
to take off the field. You can also change aound player positions by doing
this. Remember you can only make two substitutions per match.

Manager Tip #1: When playing on the expert or normal setting, put your three
star players as fowards as defenders won't make use of the extra skill as
much as the attackers. Remember the fowards are guys you need with the goal
scoring abilities.

Manager Tip #2: Before the game starts, you can choose to "View Oppo" to find
out what formation your opponent is using. You can use this to decide upon
your formation. You may for example want to counter their attacking formation
with a big defensive line or you may feel your best chance is to fight fire
with fire by also going attacking.

7.) Custom Competitions
=======================
The great thing about Sensible Soccer is the abilitiy to create your own Cup
or league. Below is information on how to do it and the rules you set:

7.a) Cup
--------
On any match selection screen, select "Cup". If you have an existing cup in
progress, it will ask if you want to continue it or create a new cup.
Remember there is only room for one league or cup per team competition so
if you start a new game and save it, your old cup or league will be deleted.
Once you are in the new cup screen, there are several options. At the top,
you can change the name of the cup. By default it's the Sensible Cup. If
you've set any of the rounds to two legs, you have the choice of turning
the away goals rules on or off. For more information on the away goals
rule, go to the "Cup" section under "Setting Up". The next option depends
on if you've enabled the seasonal weather or not. If you have, you'll set
what month the tournament starts in. Otherwise you'll select the pitch
type to be played thorugh in all games. Next is the amount of rounds you
want the competition to play for. This number DOES include both the semi
finals and finals. As the tournament is elimination, more rounds means
more teams.

Each cup has either one or two legs played each round. If a two
leg round is played, two matches between the teams are played and the
team with the highest aggregate progresses to the next round. If the
aggregate is the same, either the "away goals" rule is taken into
account or extra time and/or penalty shoot out is played. The
normal rounds, semi-final rounds and final rounds may have a different
number of legs. The last options are extra time and penalties. You
can have them on or off at different times of the competition. If
penalties if off, your tournament will also have replay rounds if
matches end in a draw. Finally you can select your teams. Press B
twice on teams you and/or your friends want to be to make them blue.
Press B once to select computer controlled teams. At the botom it will
tell you how many more teams you need to select before you can go on.
Once you're done, press OK, then "Play Cup" to begin your custom cup.

7.b) League
-----------
On any match selection screen, select "League". If you have an existing
league in progress, it will ask if you want to continue it or create a
new league. Remember there is only room for one league or cup per team
competition so if you start a new game and save it, your old cup or
league will be deleted. Once you are in the new league screen, there are
several options. At the top, you can change the name of the cup. By
default it's the Sensible League.

The next option depends on if you've enabled the seasonal weather or not.
If you have, you'll set what month the tournament starts in. Otherwise
you'll select the pitch type to be played thorugh in all games. The last
three options are fairly self explainatory; number of teams, number of
times to play each team and number of points for a win.

Finally you can select your teams. Press B twice on teams you and/or your
friends want to be to make them blue. Press B once to select computer
controlled teams. At the botom it will tell you how many more teams you
need to select before you can go on. Once you're done, press OK, then
"Play League" to begin your custom league.

8.) Customising Teams
=====================
All of the teams in Sensible Soccer can be edited. You might want to
just update a team or add yourself into the game but it's possible to
create an entire customised team. You can change pretty
much everything about any team you want. Even the team name can be
changed so you can make a team that's totally unique to you. To begin
editing teams, simply select the edit teams option once you're in one
of the competition menus. From there, press B to select the team you
want to edit.

Your cursor will start on the first player's name. By selecting a player
you get to change their name. To change the look of players, press left
on the d-pad beside the person you want to change. The face icon will
now be selected. Simply press B to change the skin and hair colour of
the player. To change the team name, simply highlight the name of the
team and press B. You can then even edit the coaches name so you can
put yourself in as the coach if you want.

Next is the fun part, editing costumes. It actually took me awhile to
figure out a few things here but hopefully you won't have to go
through all that with my guidance. If you just want to change the
colour of a kit, highlight the piece you want to change and hold the
B button. While still holding B, you can cycle through the colours
with the d-pad. You can change the colour of the shirt, socks and
shorts of both the second and first kit. You can even put a nice
looking pattern on the shirt such as stripes. To do this, highlight
the kit you want to change. Then move across to the center and you'll
be able to change the pattern of the shirt. Changes not showing up?
Then simply change the colour and now the shirt will have the new
design. You however only have the choice of plain socks and shorts.

If you make any mistakes, you can select undo. However once you've
selected OK, undo will no longer work. Once you've pressed OK, the
team is saved and ready to use. If you want to restore all the teams
to normal, reset battery ram at the options screen.

9.) FAQ
=======
Are the player's names their actual names?
Kind of. They've been altered to look a bit different though so the
developer didn't have to pay for licensing. The game is a bit old
now so you young folk probably don't know the players anyway.

How do I change World Cup Qualifying Groups?
Simply press right or left on the d-pad when World Cup Qualifying
is highlighted.

Can I play the World Cup?
No.

What do stars above my player's heads mean?
Each team has three of these. These players are accurate shooters
and have excellent ball control.

Can I make a league-cup like the pre-built competitions?
No.

I can't change the design of a shirt! Why?
It would've worked, you just need to change colours so you can
see the changes.

How do I change shirt colours?
Hold B and while still holding it, use the d-pad to scroll through
colours.

You've listed lots of tournaments that my game doesn't have. How
do I get them?
Some tournaments are available only on expert and normal. Simply
change the difficulty and you'll have them all.

Can I save during game?
No, but you can save during a league or tournament. Remember there
is only room for one league or cup per team competition.

10.) Credits
===========
Renegade/Sensible - The game itself.
Microsoft         - Notepad.
CJayC/Gamefaqs    - Amazing site.
You               - Reading my guide.
Myself            - Writing this guide.

11.) Legal Stuff
===============
This document is copyright 2002-2006 Levi "Mediocre" Afridi, and may not
be used in any way, shape, and form without my express written consent. As
of this date, this document is only available for public viewing at:
www.gamefaqs.com
www.robsgaming.com
www.mediocre.hoogetech.com
Ask for permission via e-mail. Tell me the site your going to put it on. I'll
review the site. Chances are, I'll let you post. Just ask!

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