The amount of customisation on offer is huge and really affects the way future matches are played, as shots start to fly towards goal with greater precision and speedy runs help to leave the opposition’s defensive line for dead.Īctually playing the matches as a single person for the whole 90 minutes is a joy, and a welcome break from the familiar and well-trodden normal match modes. Starting off on the bottom rung of a chosen international outfit, either as a real player or a created one, you earn experience points by performing well in matches, which you can then spend on improving all aspects of your captain-in-the-making, such as shot power and accuracy, acceleration, balance and goalkeeping ability. The most interesting and enjoyable new addition is the aptly-named ‘Captain Your Country’, a mode which sees the return of controlling just a single player in a team. Even if it is more of a gimmick than a useful gameplay mechanic, it still adds to the sense of occasion and brings the game’s global audience together in a fun and unique way. The culmination of BotN coincides with the end of the real Euro 2008 tournament, when the country with the most points will be crowned as ‘Champions of Europe’. One interesting aspect of this is that more points are earned for winning with weaker teams, something which is sure to encourage at least a little more variation in team selection from time to time in the more patriotic fans out there. Not exactly a mode as such, BotN encourages countrywide unification across the globe, with players first selecting the nation they wish to represent and then earning points for them based on all their own results in-game. The first of these, something which is explained in a handy but rather long intro movie, is ‘Battle of the Nations’. In any case, enough changes have been made to justify forking out once more for this latest incarnation, with several new modes and play devices introduced which substantially alter the way the game is played. Of course, anyone expecting otherwise obviously hasn’t gotten used to EA’s formula of milking these sports franchises for all they’re worth, but in fairness ‘it does what it says on the tin’, and there’s always the excellent Fifa 08 to satisfy any other needs. Thankfully, due to the drastic improvement present in their last couple of Fifa releases, this is no longer something to be frowned upon with horror and disgust, but rather a real opportunity to put the failures of the home nations to one side and enjoy playing out the competition in a much more satisfying manner.Īs is tradition with these Euro editions, the sole focus is on this summer’s Euro 2008 tournament, with no options available to play league matches with club teams. The football tournament that infiltrates our homes, hearts and minds every leap year is once again upon us, and EA have once again been kind enough to grace us with yet another addition to its flagship footballing juggernaut. However, the odds are that Germany is likely to outperform Sweden in the Euro 2008 tournament.Well, it’s here again. the generous group: the other teams achieved levels of scored goals 3.6 (index 360) to 6 (index 600) times higher than the levels of goals conceded.įorecasting is very difficult, especially forecasting the future, someone said.
the stingy group: half of the teams in the qualifying stage have a level of goals scored just 1.2 (index 117) to 2.6 (index 263) times higher than that of goals conceded.The winning potential of the Euro 2008 teams may be assessed by measuring their offensive and their defensive capability, in terms of the relationship between goals scored and goals conceded.Įuro 2008 qualifying football statistics show two distinct sets of football teams (see chart): To win a game, it is necessary and sufficient to score one goal more than the competing team. It is simply a question of having a goal differential marginally superior to that of the opponent teams. Winning is not a matter of being better or scoring many goals.
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