Retro Game Walkthroughs For
"Fifa 96"
(PC Games)

2002 FIFA World Cup doesn't waste your time with a lot of fancy
modes and window dressing. You're here to win the World Cup.
Period. This mini-guide seeks to help you do just that. We've
got offensive and defensive tips, our take on the most
delightful squads, a U.S. roster comparison...plus what you get
when you finally beat the Cup. Let's get the ball rolling...



Best Teams

Sure, all the teams are conveniently ranked for you in the game,
but we've compiled a list of the squads that are the most fun to
play with, for one reason or another.

1. Mexico: This spot would normally be dedicated to the
Netherlands and the best unis of all time. However, since they
did not qualify (sob!), I'm going to have to say that Mexico is
the most fun to play with. Their wide-open style and ample
mullets will make any avid soccer gamer giggle with glee.
2. Italy: One word. Inzaghi. Well, one more. Albertini.
3. Portugal: Rocketing up the world rankings, this is fresh team
with a ton of talent.
4. Brazil: With three superstars in their lineup and a huge dose
of history supporting them, Brazil is great to take through the
tourney just for the nostalgia of it all.
5. Poland: Since I'm originally from Wisconsin, I feel right at
home with all of these "ski" names. Oh, and yeah, Polish soccer
just sounds funny to me.
6. Germany: Guess why I picked this team. Could it be because my
boss's last name is Schneider? Could be, could be...
7. United States: Will anything make the U.S. into a legitimate
soccer threat? Probably not, but with four consecutive World Cup
appearances, they're starting to be less of a laughing stock.
Make the impossible possible and win the Cup with them.
8. Argentina: Don't cry for these guys. The truth is, they never
left you. All through those wild days, this mad existence. They
kept their promise...don't keep your distance.
9. Croatia: Not only are these bruisers quite delicious in the
skills department, their Purina kit ranks as one of the best
ever.
10. France: C'mon. It's fun to play as the defending champs,
even if they are French. Barthez is the man.

Offense

Whenever your team has the ball, you're on offense. It's that
simple. When your team possesses the ball, your goal is to
somehow punch it into the old onion sack. The tips below should
help you do just that.

A Note on Team Management
Before you begin, take a gander at your roster. There may be
some chaps riding the pine who have much better rankings than
some of your starting players. This can be due to who has more
caps, more seniority, etc. Since this is a videogame, you
needn't be worried about football politics. Put the best player
in and be done with it.

The Center is Key
Controlling the center of the field, especially near the mouth
of the goal, is the key to victory. On some of the easier
difficulty settings, it is possible just to march up the center
of the field and score simply by dribbling well and using the
sprint button liberally.

But in real life (anything over Amateur), you'll need to control
the ball the old-fashioned way: with crisp direct passes, good
placement of players and decent timing. One thing that can help
keep you solid in the middle is a diamond formation for your
midfielders. This sets up the passing lanes much better than a
straight line. Another advantage is that you can pass back when
you need to reset the play.Your ultimate goal in controlling the
center is to do so near the opposition's goal. That will give
you the best look at the goal, and the most options for putting
it where the goalie ain't.

Passing Back is a Necessity
This is mainly for the soccer novices out there. Sometimes to go
forward, going backward is necessary. It allows you to look at
the field, regroup and redistribute the ball to a less congested
area.

Using the Cross
Crossing is a lot more difficult in this version than even FIFA
2002. If you find that you're really awful at it, switch on
assisted crossing in the options menu to make this challenging
feature of the game easier.

A cross is basically any pass that comes from the sides of the
field and crosses into the center (in front of the net). In
earlier versions of this game (like 2001), you could simply pop
the ball up in front of the goal and shoot, and your player
would make a spectacular bicycle kick or header.

Now, you have to be a lot more precise with it. Don't attempt a
high, arching cross unless the player on the receiving end is
open enough to receive it. To ensure this is the case, take a
couple steps toward the center to draw some attention. Then make
a soft lob over the defender. Near the goal, it is often better
to trap the ball and deliver a laser shot than to try to pick
the ball out of the air on the volley.

You can also cross on the ground. The best way to do this is to
run to a goalpost. When the goalie starts coming at you, pass
diagonally back to a trailing player at the opposite side of the
goal. Then punch it home and watch the party unfold.

Make Runs
When a dotted line appears in front of a player, that is a
potential run. Each version of the game has a specific button
that will make that player run on the trajectory indicated. By
making runs, you can time a pass and a moving player to arrive
in the same spot at the same time, giving the player momentum
toward the goal.

Learn to Juggle
Use Friendly matches to pratice this valuable skill. If you can
master the art of juggling, you'll not only score some
impressive goals, but you'll make a lot more chances for
yourself. Juggling is important when bringing down and
redirecting high passes and crosses. Study the manual to learn
how to do each technique. You won't be sorry.

Don't Overdo It
A light touch on your shots will benefit you greatly. Take a
look at the shot meter while you're charging up a strike. Unless
you're a considerable distance away from the goal (outside the
goal box) or extremely close, a beefed-up shot will usually sail
over the bar. This can result in excessive cursing, which can
result in grounding, divorce, or setting a bad example for your
children (depending on your station in life). A good rule of
thumb is to never go above 3/4 of the power meter, unless you're
outside of the goal box. Like waaaay outside the goal box.

Bend Your Shots
Bending your shots will result in a lot more goals, simply
because a bent shot is a lot harder to deal with from the
keeper's perspective. Certain players will bend shots
automatically (the guys with the stars over their heads).

You can also bend a shot on a corner kick. Keep it low to the
ground and bend the shot in toward the goal. Fill the power
meter up to the 7/8 point and release. If you don't score a
wicked goal, you'll likely create a rebound and second chance
opportunity.

Know Your Star Players
Get the ball to your star player (or players) as often as
possible. These guys are stars for a reason... they have the
best skills. They shoot harder and more accurately, pass better
and make better runs. The more you can feed them in close to the
goal, the more they can do to help your squad

Defense

Conversely, when the opposite team takes control of the ball,
every player on your team switches to defense. That means get
the ball back as soon as possible, and continue trying to score.


You Needn't Always Mark the Ball
Don't think that you always have to defend the man with the
ball. You can let one of your buddies (or the CPU) mark the ball
holder while you try to collapse the passing lanes.

Tackling Tips
There are really only a few ways to get the ball back once your
opponent takes possession. Tackling is one of them. However,
most of the time when you tackle, you don't want to leave your
feet. Use the conservative tackle most of the time, especially
when challenging at close range or from behind. Even if you
don't get the ball, you'll often shoulder charge the man,
causing him to stumble slightly.

The only situation where this shoulder charge might not work for
you is if your opponent is in free space breaking toward your
goal. If you shoulder charge in this situation, you may just end
up stumbling yourself, allowing the offender to go medieval on
your goaltender. No one wants that. To properly defend in this
situation, whale on the sprint button until you're at least
abreast of your mark, then utilize the conservative tackle.

Aggressive tackling (sliding) can be used to cut off a pass as
in addition to taking the ball away from the opposition. If you
can see where a pass might be headed, slide in its path to
intercept the ball. It can also be used to deflect a pass. If
you see an opponent about to pass, and are unable to get to him
to challenge, drop to a slide a few meters in front of him.
You'll likely catch a ball in the face or chest, but you're
digital, so fugghedaboutit!

Do Not Tackle From Behind
This is a good way to ensure a card. Unless you are absolutely
beaten, do not slide tackle from behind. Playing a man down is
only good in an orgy situation. In soccer, losing a player is
critical. As in, your team will be in critical condition. If you
slide (or hook) tackle from the side or the front, even if you
miss the ball and are called for a foul, it will not be of the
red variety. Heck, you probably won't even get booked.

Win the Inside, Win the Game
The center stripe of the field, as indicated in the Offense
section, is what you must control in order to dominate. Use
diamond formations in the midfield to concentrate more bodies on
the interior, then try not to take too many people out of
position. Keeping guys in their respective areas is key. If
playing with more than one person, utilize the marking strategy
discussed above to really lock down the center of the field.

Clear, Clear, Clear
Whenever you're under heavy pressure near the goal mouth, the
best option is to clear (it's the same control as the shoot
button). Clear like there's no tomorrow. You can regroup and
make lovely, crisp pitch-level passes later. For the love of
God, get the ball out of the area. Your keeper will thank you.

Use the Goalie Charge When Beaten
The last line of defense is your keeper, and you can make him
even more effective by utilizing the charge maneuver. This cuts
down the angle and forces a tougher shot. Don't be fooled...if
you're alone against a player on a breakaway, especially a
quality forward, there might be little you can do to prevent a
goal. But coming out of the net often flusters players
(especially the ones who are flesh and blood). If you sit back
and wait for someone to take a shot, you're giving him way too
much to shoot at.

Note: Only use the goalie charge in a breakaway situation (i.e.
someone streaking unhindered toward your goal). Pulling your
goalie out in any other circumstance will get you burned, and
good. You don't need your keeper wandering around willy-nilly
while the rock is caroming around in the box.

Defending Set Plays
On throw-ins, you can often tell where the throw is headed just
by noting the position of the players on the field. Hover in the
area you think it will be thrown to and step in front of the
pass receiver at the last moment to intercept the ball.

On corners, make sure you have a guy on every single man in the
box. If you see a dude standing alone, take control yourself and
go cover him. If you're able to get your head on the ball, use
the shoot button to charge up and blast it for maximum
clearance.

If you're facing a free kick deep in your area, your players
will automatically set up a wall. You can move this blockade
back and forth by taking control of one of the players in the
wall. The default set-up is usually the best, as it allows for
the most vision for your goaltender. You might, however, want to
consider tacking on an extra guy at the end of the wall to make
a shot more difficult.

Formation Suggestions
If you get ahead in the game and want to keep your lead, it's
not a bad idea to switch to a more conservative formation. The
5-4-1 is the ultimate in conservatism, but if you're just
interested in tightening up your area, a 5-3-2 will probably be
adequate. That way, you'll maintain a couple of forwards for a
counter-attack, if that sort of thing interests you. Make sure
to drop a stopper back (just toggle the Defence meter left and
right) to insure that there's a last line of defense in front of
your keeper.

You'll also want to switch your slider bar fully to defense.
This will drop the line of defense back closer to the goal and
help make sure that things are good and cluttered in front of
the area.

Roster Comparison

Since a lot of the World Cup rosters were finalized after the
game shipped, some of the squads may have slightly different
lineups than you'd expect. However, most teams contain all the
players that are available on the team either as subs or
reserves.

We'll use the U.S. team as an example. The list of 23 below is
the lineup that the U.S. recently announced. We've indicated how
these players appear in the game. 1=Starter, 2=Sub, 3=Reserve,
N=Not in game.

1. Claudio Reyna (1)
2. Earnie Stewart (1)
3. Cobi Jones (2)
4. Joe-Max Moore (2)
5. Brad Friedel (2)
6. Kasey Keller (1)
7. Tony Meola (3)
8. Josh Wolff (2)
9. DeMarcus Beasley (2)
10. Chris Armas (1)
11. Landon Donovan (1)
12. Jeff Agoos (1)
13. Brian McBride (1)
14. Frankie Hejduk (3)
15. Eddie Pope (1)
16. David Regis (1)
17. Clint Mathis (2)
18. Carlos Llamosa (1)
19. Pablo Mastroeni (N)
20. Gregg Berhalter (2)
21. Tony Sanneh (2)
23. Eddie Lewis (1)
24. John O'Brien (3)

In addition, the game incudes the following players not
announced for the official U.S. roster. All we have to say is
Preki, baby.

Greg Vanney (2)
Richie Williams (2)
Steve Cherundolo (2)
Ante Razov (2)
Jovan Kirovski (3)
Preki (3)
CJ Brown (3)
Chris Albright (3)
Mike Petke (3)
Jason Kreis (3)
Bobby Convey (3)
John Harkes (3)
Chris Klein (3)

Secrets

Unlock All-Star Teams
So what do you earn if you survive the World Cup and emerge
victorious? Well, depending which region you're from, you may
unlock a brand new All-Star team composed of stars from your
squad's portion of the globe. These teams will be available for
use in Friendly Mode only. You won't unlock anything new by
completing the World Cup run with teams from the same region. It
doesn't matter what difficulty setting you win the Cup with, so
if you want to blow through and win them all, just set the game
to Beginner and rock on.

All-Europe Team: Europe, Oceania
All-Americas Team: N. America, S. America
All-Africa Team: Africa
All-Asia Team: Asia