Super Soccer Manager 2005 is a football management game, with a user friendly interface, informative displays and impressive database of hundreds of real football teams.

The game is for those who:

1. Know better what can make their highly determined but exceptionally unlucky national football team to win the World Cup.

2. Feel capable of managing a football club or... two...or three...and wish to create a dream team.

3. Would like to buy and resell Ronaldo and Beckham, but don't have such an opportunity in the daily life.

To play SSM 2005 you don't have to a football expert. Actually, while playing, you will not watch a single football match. You will build and apply strategies and tactics, decide on the players, lineups and manner of matches, and, of course, deal with the financial side of the business. To analyze results and make further changes is the course of the game. Wins and defeats, as well as the team and coach ranks, will be the final measure of success.

In the registered version of SSM 2005 we play national, UEFA or World cups as well as Champion League. The trial version has restrictions on some features and permits to participate only in national and Champion League competitions. But, in general, the trial version allows to get a clear understanding and appreciation of the game.

We start choosing a championship, selecting teams to participate and determining up to 6 teams which we will manage.

The main window of the game tells everything about your teams and the results of your management. Here, in the Tactics and Players sections, we can also set options for the next match.

In the Tactics section we determine a line-up, a team attitude, whether to attack more on the wins or on the middle, and a level of defense pressure.

The History section shows results of previous matches with your next-match competitor and informs about the present position and achievements of both teams.

The Players section is of great interest and importance because this is storage of data on everything concerning members of the team: age, skills, their order, stamina, salary, value, whether he can be sold, etc. Here we can choose a team captain, or change a player's order, or to start an auction and sell a player: any changes hopefully leading to success and prosperity.

As for my personal debut as a coach of the Pescara team, after the defeat in the first match of Italian League my management rate dropped till 93% and the supporter's rating went down till 86%. Pescara got the last place in its division; I lost 150 thousand in cash – so to take strong measures was crucial...

To set current capacity and ticket prices for the seats of your stadium is one of the ways to improve a team's financial position. But if you don't guess alright, expect lost profit or half-empty tribunes.

Clicking the Finances icon you will get a detailed report on your income, expenditures, interest by game, etc.

So, we don't watch matches. What do we get at the end of them? Actually, users do participate in the course of a match. For example, a coach points a kicker to execute penalty, or after the 1st half you can revise the team attitude and defense pressure as well as to make some substitutes. But this is all, and the end of the match will show whether your choices have been correct.

The resulting table contains information about players having got yellow and red cards; statistics about ball possession, shots, tackles, wrong passes, fouls committed, etc. The same information is available for all matches of all divisions.

Along with bidding in auctions initiated by other clubs, you can search players according to required characteristics such as skills, position, nationality, value, etc., and send offers to them (the option is available for registered users only).

Now it's time for several words about Super Soccer Manager 2005 performance. Action is fully present here. The game grips and holds interest. Every detail is carefully developed and all of them are logically arranged. There are some problems with translation into different languages, but they are not crucial. There is no Help section, but also any need for it. In the settings window we define general settings on the game saving, speed, penalties decisions, etc. Here we also determine game colors and sounds.

All in all, SSM 2005 may be of interest both for adults and kids interested in football. For latter it's a worthy competitor of Monopoly: it teaches about budgeting, savings, being cautious and taking risks in a good way. The intuitive, user friendly interface makes the game easy and pleasant to play. A registration fee is not really high.

Good luck. Hopefully you'll enjoy huge slices of fortune in reaching the World Cup finals.

P.S. and do not choose Pescara as a club to manage! I went all out, but the team lost all matches :( Next time I should try Chelsea.

CyberFoot keywords: soccer, elifoot, management, game, futebol, calcio, jogo, juego, super soccer manager