The way I pass, shoot and score just doens`t cut it at the semi and professional level. Someone please give me good tips and statagies.

I play the same on all the difficulty levels but i notice on the harder ones you have to be a bit more patient and wait for that killer ball and i certainly use the one touch move a lot more, that is pressing the pass button before the ball reaches the player.

Work the ball in from the coners as you would in real soccer. Work on setting up crosses and winning corner kicks, they provide the best options for scoring. Another great way to score and play is to use your "set to run" button and send your forwards running in on goal. Hit them with a nice pass into the run and finish with a strike just be careful they are not offsides when you pass. Like the other guy said, patience and good ball movement to open up the shots is a must!

Good Luck!

So far I haven't had much luck with the traditional method of running the ball up the wings and passing to the central striker(s) to score - it's a lot harder in FIFA 2003 than in previous versions of the game. However, some things that I have noticed, now that I can beat the game on semi-pro consistently (just won the Bundesliga with Bayern, and won ECC as well with them).

1. Pay attention to your formation. Different formations work wonders when setup correctly. Here's what I currently use:
Oppenent::My Formation
4-4-2::4-1-2-1-2
3-5-2::4-3-3
4-5-1::4-4-2 (attacking)
5-3-2::4-3-3 or 4-1-2-1-2

NOTE: when you change formations, pay attention to your player assignments, since they change different from what you might expect

2. BALL CONTROL - if the other team doesn't have control, then they can't score. Sounds simple, and it isn't too hard to master. Use lots of short, direct passes (A) and an occasional through ball (Y) to surprise the defense.

3. Make that extra pass. When getting close to the opponents goal using your ball control tactix, instead of shooting from the edge of the box, pass it one more time. A lot of times one of the strikers will sneak into the box, and you'll get some easy scores from 5-10 yards out. If you must shoot from the edge of the box, remember that the player has to shoot in-stride, and that the last direction of your d-pad (or left thumbstick) determines the direction of the shot.

4. Start learning the freestyle control, there are some cool moves you can do to spring free of the defense - I've finally started learning it, and it's very nice.

5. Work on scoring off corner kicks - it's pretty easy. Just hit (A) to pass to the closest teammate at the near goal post, turn and shoot.

Whew! That's all for now.

l8r)

Yeah pass it that extra time in the box. Also this works in semi-pro and not pro most of the time, If you run with the ball towards the net and there is a defensive man on you and running with you, stop, and do a 360 turn with your player this will deke him out and then run towards the goal again, preferable at a slant up one of the sides towards one of the goal posts and then just shoot it usually goes into the other corner. Thats what I usually do, but it probably works going up the middle too, not sure.

This works pretty well on semi-pro haven't really tried on pro I think they play better defense so it hardly works anymore if at all not sure.

I kinda suck at this game, just getting the hang of semi-pro now where it seems I can win some matches, still lose on pro most of the time.

I haven't played alot of games yet, can't find the time spend alot of time on the internet.

This message was edited by JT on May 28 2003.

the best advice you can take on how to conquer this game is to think like you are in an actual soccer game. pass, pass, and pass some more. through balls work excellent if timed right and once you get used to the freestyle analog moves you start noticing ways to get around defenders, even in the hardest level. also, learn which foot your strikers are more skilled with, it helps with more acurate shots.

Semi-pro should not be too difficult to win, it get's tricky at professional where it becomes harder to steal the ball from your opponent.

As for semi-pro, i prefer to work with a 4-3-3 formation against all teams. I'm not a fan of crossing and 8 out of 10 times my striker can't get in front of his defender (no matter who you are playing the defenders seem to be twice as fast as any striker).

When playing semi-pro normal passes will do the trick. Just get used to playing with the same formation and know where your players run. When you are on the opponent's half make sure u have room to pass and no one is in front of you. What works perfectly is to send a player in and the pass with the shoot button instead of the through ball or normal pass, you will score a lot using this tactic.

Furthermore i just pass till I see some space and run in, using the freestyle control mostly.

What becomes important on pro-level is stealing the ball. Try this, as soon as your oponent sends a pass tap the 'select player' and 'sliding tackle' directly after. If you are fast enough your player will intercept the ball.

I'm working out some more which I probabaly post later... Hope it helps you.

I play on pro now. Another strategy is walking and running with the ball. If you are going slower it seems like you have more ball control, and you are harder to check, if you are neck and neck with defender, walk a little bit, hit the speed button, this burns them for a couple of cms, inches on the TV screen. They seem to check me lots if I have the speed button pressed, but if I'm neck and neck with them and I go a little slower without the speed button, they don't seem to check me right away. Also use the speed button at unpredictable, walk a little bit that they think you are going slow and then hit the speed button. I also think the right analog dekes work sometime okay if you are going slower, not running.

Stopping and doing 360s using main left analog stick to stop and then do a turn 360 is what works pretty well for me. I think it works on Pro too, but they recover and play better defense so its not a certain score.

Yeah pro is beatable, I've played around 10 games in some tournament and won most of them and tied like one or two.