Tips and Tricks
Before you head out on the field, make sure you review these suggestions. They’ll turn you into a Mac-owning Pelé in no time. If you’re using a joystick instead of your keyboard, substitute the joystick button for the control key, as well as the joystick for the directional keys, where applicable.
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Press the control key before a pass reaches your player and he will trap the ball. The longer he keeps the ball before passing it to another player, the higher the accuracy of the pass. |
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Your player will head the ball if it’s high enough off the ground. Depending on its placement, he may perform a diving header, so judge the ball carefully before pressing the control key. |
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Not only can you control the direction of a free kick before your player takes it, but you can also give it a little nudge while in flight with the left and right directional keys. |
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Before a free kick that’s dangerously close to your goal, several of your players will form a wall in an effort to block the ball. To add players to the wall, hold down the right directional key and press the control key; hold down the left directional key and press the control key to remove them. |
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If an opposing player gets close to your goal and you have a defender who can stop him, try to avoid kicking the ball past the line behind your goal. That will result in a corner kick, which will come across the front of your goal and create a scoring opportunity for the other team. Instead, kick the ball out of bounds on either sideline (assuming you can’t get possession and send the ball the other way), which will result in a less-problematic throw-in. |
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You can press the control key to slide tackle another player, but don’t do that too often or you will get called for a foul, which will result in a free kick from the spot of the offense. If the foul occurs inside your penalty area (the large box around the goal), the other team will get a penalty shot that will almost certainly result in a goal, so be careful on that part of the field. |
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If the referee determines that your foul was flagrant, he will give the offending player a yellow card. A second offense results in a red card and expulsion from the game, which means you’ll have to continue the match with one less player. |
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Watch the mini map on the side of the screen to keep track of the players on both sides. It will help you determine where to send your passes. |
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When learning how to play for the first time, select a powerhouse team (Brazil, Argentina, etc.) and play against one of the soccer-poor countries (Croatia, Liuthuania, etc.). That will help you build your confidence while scoring plenty of goals. |
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In the team selection screen (the one that says “Today’s Match” at the top),
click the large soccer ball in the top right corner of the screen. Keep
clicking it to cycle through a series of hidden teams — such as KO Heroes,
Anco XI, and Red and Blue Army — that you can choose from for the game. |
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Ever wonder what soccer would be like with a different kind of ball? Go into
the team editor, create a team called “Beach Soccer” in the first slot, save
it (you don’t need to create any players for it), and go into practice mode.
Your team will kick around a large beach ball.
Then go back into the team editor and change “Beach Soccer” to “Pikey Wayne”
for a more gruesome variation on this trick.
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 So close. Can you put it in the net?
 The in-game map helps keep
the
action in perspective.
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Mac OS X version 10.1 or Mac OS 9 or higher