FIFA Soccer 13 – FAQ/Strategy Guide

Coaching Tip: Shielding

To protect the ball from your marker, release LS and hold RT. Your player moves between his marker and the ball and tries to hold him off.

Coaching Tip: Give and Go

To initiate a one-two pass, press A while holding LB to make your player pass to a nearby teammate, and move LS to continue his run. Then press A (ground pass), Y (through ball, X (lobbed pass) or LB + Y (lobbed through ball) to immediately return the ball to him, timing the pass perfectly to avoid conceding possession.

Coaching Tip: Adding Elevation and Spin

To add elevation to your shot, power it up for longer (but beware of overpowering) and move LS to add sidespin, topspin, or backspin. Topspin can be employed to bring a ball down quickly (e.g. after it has cleared the wall).

Coaching Tip: Penalties

Aiming: By default, you start aiming at the middle of the goal. From the moment you start powering up for a shot, you can move LS to aim anywhere inside the goal. The longer you hold LS in any particular direction, the farther your shot goes in that direction. Be careful with how long you hold LS, as letting go too soon results in a shot closer to the middle of the goal, and holding it for too long causes you to miss the goal.

Saving: Committing to a save direction early allows you to reach farther and save shots close to the corner of the goals. However, diving farther to the side makes it more difficult to save shots aimed toward the middle of the goal.

If you think the kick taker is going for placement rather than power, you can try to react to the shot by holding RS in any direction after the ball has been kicked.

Coaching Tip: Be a Goalkeeper

Experiment with different levels of Save Assistance (Assisted, Semi-Assisted, and Manual) to find what is right for your play-style and skill level.

Skill Moves

Skills moves can be performed by all players. The type of skill your player can execute depends on his skill level. A player with the highest skill level can perform the most difficult and effective skills in the game, whereas a player with a lower skill level will attempt a simpler version of a trick or may altogether fail in his attempt of that skill. The speed at which a skill move is executed depends on your player's agility attribute. For example, an agile player like Cristiano Ronaldo can perform skills at a much quicker pace than a player with lower agility.

All of the skills are broken down into five levels of difficulty. One-star moves are the most basic and can be performed by all players in the game. Two-, three-, and four-star moves can be done by players who are relatively skilful in real life. Five-star moves can only be performed by the most skilled footballers such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar. These players are able to do the most impressive skills and tricks in FIFA 13.

Note: The controls listed below assume that the controlled player is moving vertically upwards and should be amended depending on your player's direction.

To perform a signature celebration press A, or hold LT + RT + A to perform a pay respect celebration. You can skip UCC by pressing RB + LB.

Kinect voice recognition technology changes the way you play FIFA 13 on the Xbox 360. Gaming with Kinect is available in every offline mode, including specific commands present in Career Mode, Be A Pro: Player, and Be A Pro: Goalkeeper. You cannot use Kinect in online modes.

SETUP

Calibration

Kinect voice setup and calibration instructions are available through the Xbox 360 Dashboard.

MAIN MENU/PAUSE MENU

Within the pause menu, you can pre-set your Kinect settings: Basic Settings, Combo Settings, Custom Settings, and Formation Settings.

Kinect microphone icon

A Kinect microphone icon is displayed onscreen and whenever you see this icon, you can use Kinect. This icon varies in color, showing the outcome of your voice command. The icon also displays the word it matched to your input.

• Uncolored (black-grey): Static. This indicates that Kinect is waiting for input.
• Red/Animated: Listening. This indicates that Kinect is picking up noise.
• Green check mark: Recognized. This indicates that Kinect has recognized and implemented the input.
• Yellow: Almost recognized. This indicates that Kinect has heard and implemented your input but not with maximum confidence.
• Red question mark: Unrecognized. This indicates that Kinect has not been able to recognize the input.

VOICE COMMANDS

Team management commands

These commands let you make substitution, formation, tactics, and mentality changes without having to pause the game and navigate menus. This keeps you engaged in gameplay as you instruct your team like a coach. Whenever you trigger an in-game overlay with a voice command, you can choose an option by saying the word(s) in the overlay.

Substitutions

Basic substitution commands.

• Substitution (this initiates the substitution flow)
• Striker
• Midfielder
• Defender
• Sub one
• Sub two
• Sub three
• Sub four

Substitution shortcuts

Saying the below commands is a shortcut to calling a substitution for that particular position.

NOTE: With these steps, you are only able to sub a player for a player of the same position.

• Sub striker
• Sub midfielder
• Sub defender
• Sub goalkeeper

Formations

Basic formation commands.

• Formations (this initiates the formation flow)
• Formation one
• Formation two
• Formation three
• Formation four
• Formation five

Mentality

Basic mentality commands.

NOTE: You can shortcut directly to a mentality by simply saying the command. For example, "Defensive."

• Mentality (this initiates the formation flow)
• Ultra defensive
• Defensive
• Balanced
• Attacking
• Ultra attacking

Tactics

Basic tactics commands.

NOTE: You can shortcut to the tactic you want by simply saying the command. For example, "Offside trap."

• Tactics (this initiates the tactics flow)
• Swap wings
• Team pressing
• CB joins attack
• Offside trap

Quick tactics

Quick Tactics can be set up in the Team Management menu. When you create your own Tactics and save it to one of the Quick Tactics slots, it appears in the game as a voice command option. Say, "Quick tactics" in game to try it out!

• Quick tactics (this initiates the quick tactics flow)
• Custom tactic one
• Custom tactic two
• Custom tactic three
• Custom tactic four

Combo commands

Combo Commands let you set up multiple changes to be made with one voice command. You can make a formations, tactics, and mentality change all at once by saying one simple phrase.

• Take it to the corners
• Step it up
• We need the win
• Look after the ball
• Ease off a little

Custom commands

You can give an individual tactic, mentality, or formations change a specific command. In the Kinect Settings, enter the Custom Commands menu, and choose which tactics, mentality, and formations setting you would like, as well as what voice command you want to give each. You can also use each phase for more than one setting. For example, you could have one phrase that calls two actions (a tactic and mentality) and one phrase that calls a single action (formation).

There are Custom Phrases to choose from:

• Hard five minutes
• Pressure on the ball
• Go all out now
• Route one now boys
• Shoot from anywhere
• Everybody back
• Shut up shop
• Let's slow it down
• Get tight on them
• Watch for the long ball

In-game, you say the Custom Phrase and the overlay displays the action(s) you've just called. If you do not set one of the choices, then the overlay displays None.

ON PITCH COMMANDS

Camera commands

With camera commands, you can change camera angles via voice command. Say "Change camera," and then one of the camera names to make the change:

• Camera (this command plus a camera name changes the camera angle)
• Change Camera (this command plus a camera name change the camera angle)
• Tele
• Tele broadcast
• Broadcast
• Pro
• Coop
• Dynamic
• End to end

Complete Dribbling

While facing up to an opponent, you can make precise dribble touches with 360 degree directional mobility. Your player contextually faces up while dribbling in order to keep you better oriented to take on defenders in one-on-one battles. To manually face up while dribbling, hold LT and RT to make your player face up to the nearest goal-side defender. Performing the action manually allows you to change direction quicker at lower speeds and explode past defenders.

1st Touch Control

With more realistic control over difficult passes, your player's first touch is now more important than ever. Opponent pressure, incoming ball speed, player skill, and many other factors, all contribute to the success of your player's first touch. Control the ball while moving at slower speeds to keep the first touch closer. For an even more refined touch, hold LT as your player receives a difficult pass to control the ball at a slow speed.

Tactical Free Kicks

You can now call a second and third kick taker during a free kick. Each kick taker can pass, shoot, or run over the ball. Utilize dummy runs and lay off passes to create dangerous and unpredictable free kicks. Opponents can counter by adding or subtracting players to the wall, creeping the wall forward, or sending a bullet man to intercept the pass or block the shot. For free kicks that are farther away, you also have the ability to call a second player to come short by pressing LT.

Lateral Contain

You now have more freedom and lateral mobility while containing an opponent. Use Contain to place your defender in front of the opposing team's attacker by holding A. Move your defender left or right while containing in order to shepherd an opponent to less dangerous areas of the field or onto his weaker foot.

Seal Outs

While defending, you now have the ability to dispossess an opponent by using your defender's body to win back possession of the ball. With good anticipation, you can use your defender's size and strength to seal out an opponent who attempts to dribble past him. In situations where there is separation between the dribbler and the ball, press B to launch a Seal Out and use your player's body to step in front of your opponent.

EA Sports Football Club Match Day

EA SPORTS Football Club Match Day introduces regular updates with real world data, stats, and stories to bring your single player game experience to life!

Players' form in game reflects their real life form and teams have to cope without injured, suspended players, and those away on international duty. The league table positions, facts, and figures drive the commentary that you hear. So when your club has that vital top of the table clash or relegation battle, it is reflected in game.

Live Fixtures

The details of each team's next four real opponents are stored in-game. Use this option to short cut to an upcoming match and play out your anticipation for the big game.

Games of the Week

Each week, a small number of Live Fixtures become Games of the Week. Check out these massive encounters in this dedicated section.

Turning EA SPORTS FC Match Day On/Off

By default, the live data is used for your game as long as you are connected to EA Servers. If you wish to use your local customized database instead, then toggle EA SPORTS FC Match Day feature by pressing Y on the Select Teams screen.

FIFA Ultimate Team

Join the millions of fans who have built their club in FIFA Ultimate team. FIFA Ultimate Team is a massive online community of football fans from around the globe, building their own dream squads and competing in Tournaments, Seasons, and in our global Auction Market for players.

Getting started

When you first start FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) you are given a starter pack of players. This pack contains everything you need to start playing in Tournaments and earning coins. You'll receive 22 players from various leagues around the world, a manager, and some player contracts.

Building Chemistry

Having a team of star players is great, but having a team with excellent chemistry is what you're after. A squad with good team chemistry can play above their ratings, while great players with poor chemistry won't be at their best. To build chemistry, look at the links between players on the pitch.

Building Chemistry Links

Players gain chemistry when playing in the correct formation, playing in a position that they prefer, and linking to other players who come from the same country, league, or club.

Formation bonuses are added when a player is in a formation they like. For example, a striker with a 4-4-2 preference gets the best bonus for playing in a 4-4-2, but if you put them in any formation with two strikers, such as a 5-3-2, they'll receive a partial bonus.

A position bonus is earned by playing a player in the correct position on the pitch. Playing a center midfielder in a CM spot in a formation grants a full position bonus to a player. However, putting a center midfielder into a CDM (center defensive midfielder) or CAM (center attacking midfielder) spot yields a partial bonus. You even get a small bonus by playing them in LM (left midfielder) and RM (right midfielder) spots.

Linking to other players is the way to get your team chemistry to maximum. Links between players are made by connecting players with the same nationality, players who play in the same league, and players who play at the same club. For example, if you put an Italian striker from the Serie A next to a Spanish striker from the same club, you would get a strong link for having two players who play in the same league and club side by side.

There are many ways to reach high team chemistry, so experiment with different combinations of players and have fun creating unique squads. TIP: When building your squad, include Bronze players with good chemistry early on. This helps you earn more coins in the early completions and eventually get better players.

Managing your Squads

The Squad screen is where you manage your players, give players contracts, improve their fitness and morale, and optimize your teams' chemistry.

Contracts

In FIFA Ultimate Team, your players need contracts to play a match. Each player has seven contracts when they're found in a pack. Every time you play a match the contracts remaining for a player is reduced by one. A player loses one contract by coming on the pitch; if the player is in your subs but does not play they keep their contract for the match.

A player contract can be Bronze, Silver, or Gold. Applying a contract to a player with the same quality rating is always the best value. So, when a Bronze player runs out of contracts picking up a Bronze pack or a Bronze contract on the trade market is your best bet. To apply a contract item to a player bring up the Actions menu and select Apply Consumable.

Fitness

To get the most out of your players in matches, make sure your squad is match fit and ready to play. Check your players for fitness and morale in the Squads screen by moving the RS and changing to the Status view.

Ideally, fitness for players should be as high as possible (maximum 99) to ensure they can run for the full match. Fitness can be recovered two ways-resting the player for a match or playing a fitness recovery item. Try to keep your players above 75 fitness to get a full 90 minutes from them. To apply fitness items to a player bring up the Actions menu and select APPLY CONSUMABLE. Fitness items can be found in packs or on the Auction market.

Morale

Morale for a player starts out neutral and goes up or down based on their performance in matches. A player with high morale gains benefits during gameplay, while a player with low morale has a small decrease to their performance during the match.

Aim to keep your player morale at neutral or above when starting a match. A player's morale trends toward neutral naturally. If you find a player is not in good spirits, you can rest him in matches or play a morale training item on that player. To apply a morale item to a player, bring up the Actions menu and select Apply CONSUMABLE. Morale items can be found in packs or on the Auction market.

TIP: To swap players, highlight one player, press A, and then highlight another player and press A again. To look at the players in your club, press X to open the Player Actions menu, and then select the Swap with Club option