FANTASY FOOTBALL -- dooyoo Have What It Takes? (World Cup 2002 - the build up)

Member Name: travelnotes

Product:	World Cup 2002 - the build up
Date:	28/05/02 (634 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You could win fame and fortune

Disadvantages: You could fall flat on your face

So you think you can do better than Swedes and Turnips..... now's your chance to prove it!

As we build up to the 2002 World Cup kick-off, there are plenty of challenges out there for budding World Cup managers to get their act together and prove themselves to the sniggering masses.

Can you win fame and fortune, or will you fall flat on your face?



HOW TO PLAY

With many different types of fantasy games around, from straight forward predictions to managing a squad within a fixed budget and dealing with transfers, the first thing to think about is what you're good at.

Personally, I prefer the strategy games where you get the chance to think like a real manager and pick the right player to earn you the most points in his position -- yes we're talking about men's World Cup Football here..... although some of the ones I pick, tend to play like wet blouses.

The straight forward score predictions are also fun..... but if you're good at that, then you might as well put your money where your mouth is -- at the bookies -- and rake in the real profits.

On our World Cup site, we did a fairly simple fantasy prediction game, for France 98 (which teams go through the group stages and each subsequent round, to eventually win the final), but it was a lot of work and I'm not sure I'd be prepared to go through all that again..... even though it brought in some extra traffic.

Besides, some places on the web are doing it much better now, have very smart automated systems and therefore attract a larger user base.



WHERE TO PLAY

There are plenty of newspaper games, with valuable prizes on offer, but here are some of the things I've come across -- online.



~~ TACTICAL GAMES ~~

Where you get to pick the players and face off against other members in a league.

ismgames.com
For me, the best of the bunch is Can You
Kick It -- it's FREE.

Their English Premier League game is very popular and UEFA soon followed suit with the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and more recently, the UEFA European U21 Championships.

____________________________________________

CYKI World Cup:

Now that CYKI have released their 2002 World Cup game, it really is the place to go.

Basically, you have 100 million pounds to spend on a squad of 13 players (maximum of 2 from any country) -- 1 goalkeeper, 4 defenders, 5 midfielders and 3 strikers. Each player is given a value at the start of the tournament and their value rises and falls depending on the trading volume during the group stage.

As a side note, my 1800-WorldCup.com team made 4th most valuable overall on UEFA and 7th overall on CYKI -- maybe that's I way enjoy playing this game so much.

A Word About Transfers

I'm not sure if I'll try and go for the money table this time around..... unless my initial line-up are all injured or red-carded.

It seems CYKI's 20% tax, for the Premier League game, didn't put enough people off hitting the transfer market and making huge gains; to increase buying power in the later stages.

So, for the World Cup there's going to be a massive 50% tax on the profit you make on a player when you transfer him, along with the 2 point deduction.

And with only seven matchdays in the tournament, the points might be too valuable to throw away. Having said that, the points loss could be worth it to pick up players who get the bonus points for attacking passes and defending tackles..... a new addition to the points structure.

Knockout Stages

Like the UEFA tournament, transfers can be made at no cost during the Knockout stages..... and there will be no price rises.

You also get to select more players from each country: Second Round (3); Quarter Finals (4); and for the Semi Finals , Fin
al and 3/4 Place Playoff (5).

Scoring Points

Once you've selected your 13 man squad, given them a kit to play in and called your team a name, you will have to select your eleven starters and choose a captain -- who earns you double points.

Depending on the two players you leave on the bench -- by unchecking the box beside their name -- you can will have a variety of formations at your disposal: 2-5-3, 3-5-2, 3-4-3, 4-5-1, 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. Defenders who keep a clean sheet and score a goal for your team are priceless. Players who supply the final assist to the goalscorer are also worth keeping an eye on.

For full details on how the points are calculated and the transfer deadline dates, be sure to check the game rules.

Entering A League

This is the fun part about CYKI games..... you can set up your own league to challenge your friends. There's also a forum there to talk to one another, although that aspect could do with a little more fine tuning as messages tend to get purged from the system periodically.

Link: http://worldcup.cyki.com

So what are you waiting for, show us what you're made of and join our very own league by entering this code in the My Leagues section of the site:
fans@1800-Worldcup.com_53008

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Classic Fantasy League:

(Dubbed the original..... this is where Soccernet go for their corporate experience).

For a £5 entry fee, there's a cool £10,000 first prize on the table, as well as a chance to fly to Rio de Janeiro -- for a week's holiday, during the annual Beach Soccer Championships.

The runner-up also pockets £1,000 and there are £500 prizes for the winner of each of the 5 game phases.

You can also set up little friendly leagues for fun -- once you've handed over your fiver.

How to Play

Here you get to choose 15 players (maximum two from any country),
without any budget restraints, and have 10 transfers to put things right; if your squad aren't playing up to scratch (maximum 4 transfers per game phase).

You have to play in a 4-4-2 formation but can chop and change your substitutes, for each position where needed, without eating up your transfer budget.

You can make substitutions and transfers at anytime, apart from the 15 minutes before the start of a match. If you miss the deadline your transfer will count in the next match.

The trick here will be to make sure all 15 players get to play in every game their country plays, so you'll need to keep a close eye on the fixtures.

And if you need someone to join you on the trip to Rio...... you know where to find me!

Link: http://classicwc.fantasyleague.com

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Telegraph Fantasy Football World Cup:

For a £5 entry fee, the winning manager earns a tasty £50,000 with The Telegraph..... almost as much as the cool Swede himself.

This is the same game as they run in the newspaper but with the online edition there's also a Super League facility, to let you compete against your friends.

You have a £50m budget to compile a fantasy team of 11 players, in a 4-3-3 formation.

Point scoring is on player performance but you can make only 8 transfers throughout the tournament -- so give your initial line-up a chance before you axe them too hastily. There are also points awarded in penalty shoot-outs, and minus points if your player misses.

You also need to buy a copy of The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday to make a transfer, as it contains the transfer password for that week. You can then make your transfer(s) via the website or over the phone.

Link: http://worldcup.telegraph.co.uk

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The Beautiful Game:

It costs £5 to enter here as well and you could win regular prizes of t
ickets, cash, signed shirts and footy gear throughout the World Cup.

Once you register you will receive a budget of 140 stars with which to build your squad.

You will need to pick a squad of 23 players, made up of three goalkeepers, seven defenders, eight midfielders and five strikers.

Each player has a star rating depending on his own ability and his team's ability to reach the World Cup Final.

You are free to pick who you like as long as your squad's collective star rating does not exceed 140.

Once you have submitted your squad you'll need to pick a formation and a team of 11 players from your squad of 23.

You can't change the squad but you can change the lineup and formation once a day.

Link: http://www.thebeautifulgame.co.uk/worldcup/fantasy manager

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Sky Sports Super Manager:

Only open to UK residents.

For an entry fee of £4.99 (come on, make it a fiver) you get the chance to win a family season ticket to an English club of your choice -- although it doesn't say anything about the size of the family.

There are also 20 runners-up prizes of £100 to spend in Kitbag.

If you've already registered for the Sky Sports Super Manager game, you don't need to register again here. Just enter your username and password and you can add your World Super Manager teams under that account.

A team consists of 11 players -- 1 goalkeeper, 2 fullbacks, 2 centre backs, 4 midfielders, 2 strikers -- and one manager. In the group stages you can only have two players from the same country (moving up to four and then six in the later stages).

You can make 10 transfers until the end of the second round stage, then there's an unlimited window to prepare you for the 1/4 finals -- when you'll be able to make another 6 transfers for the semi-finals. Unlimited transfers are available again, if yo
u're holding a squad of losers at the final stage.

The game is also available through interactive television (at 10p a minute).

Link: http://worldsupermanager.sky.com/

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Dreamracers:

Not quite in the CYKI mould of selecting individual players and making transfers.

Here you select a nation to keep goal; to be your defense; to be your midfield; to be your forwards -- within a budget of £60m. Once a nation goes out of the tournament, that's it for their position(s).

There's also a facility to create a private league and talk of prizes..... but the space to be watched for details hasn't shed further light on what the package might be.

Link: http://www.dreamracers.com/4_rules.php3

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Deadlystrike:

The goal of this game, organised by Americans who feel that 'soccer remains an under-served market outside of the UK', is to select eight players who will earn you the most points. There's a nice little graphic of a doctor's bag next to injured players -- so don't select them.

Goals count as 3 points, an assist as 1 point, and wins as 1 point.

For clean-sheets (or shut-outs, as they like to call it), goalkeepers earn 3 points and defenders 1 point.

There are 5 bonus points awarded for hat tricks, Golden Goals, and to each player on the side that wins the tournament.

There's also a private league facility and a global forum to discuss fantasy strategy, Deadlystrike and the World Cup in general.

Link: http://www.deadlystrike.com/Cup/help.asp

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Fantasy Football @ BlueHyppo:

This one could be interesting for World Cup fans in Malaysia.

The game is available in English, Thai, Malay and Chinese.

You can pick up to seven players from the same nation. There's n
o budget cap on players and you're free to make transfers; although you can't change your selected formation (4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-2-4 or 3-5-2).

There's a 20 Malaysian Ringgit (RM) entry fee (a little over £3.50) with a Grand Prize of RM50,000 (£9,000), First Prize of RM2,000, Second Prize of RM 1,500 and Third Prize of RM1,000 -- you do the maths.

Link: http://fantasyfootball.bluehyppo.com/worldcup/?lan g=EN

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~~ PREDICTION GAMES ~~

Go on, take a stab at the score or predict who will go through the rounds to win the final.

Yahoo Games

If you've got a special Yahoo! id there's no fee here and you can join other Groups of Fans or set up your own private group, to see who can amass the most points.

You earn points by selecting the exact place each team will finish in their group and bonus points if you get the teams' points total right. There's a maximum 640 points available in the first stage.

By editing each group and selecting who will win each game, or if it will be a draw, Yahoo automatically calculates how many points you think each team will make and where they will finish in the table.

If the points total of two or more teams are equal, then you will have to select who you feel will finish above whom -- you'll need to think about goal difference or jot down what the scores might be on a piece of paper...... or just select one and hope for the best.

In the knockout stages you just have to guess.... excuse me, predict..... the winner of the matches.

The points available rise as we get through each stage: Second Round (20 points for each correct pick); Quarterfinals (40 points for each correct pick); Semifinals (80 points for each winner); and 160 points for the winner of the final -- that's another 640 points for the taking.

Amass 1280 points and you'll almost certainly
be famous throughout the Yahoo! world.

"What aren't there any prizes?" you ask.

Well, in Yahoo's own words you could "potentially" win two tickets to the final, for getting the most points in the Group Stage; a digital camera for the second stage; and an audio/visual entertainment system for being top of the pile. Check the official contest rules for eligibility.

Link: http://games.fifaworldcup.yahoo.com

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World Cup Fantasy Footy:

This one looks professional enough. Registration is free and there's supposedly a thousand pounds on offer to the winner, £500 for second and £250 for third.

This game is about predicting results, scores and goalscorers and points are awarded for your astuteness -- bonus points if you make your predictions before the tournament gets underway.

Link: http://www.worldcupfantasyfooty.com

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The Prediction League:

All about predicting match scores and scorers. You can also look at the match prediction statistics to see what people have predicted so far.

Link: http://www.predictionleague.co.uk/competition.php? comp=50

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~~ THE ALSO RANS ~~

World Cup 2002 Fantasy Football

A Freeserve site with the redirect domain of www.fantasyworldcup.info is putting something together at a charge of £5 per entry ($7.00 by PayPal, for international players).

Basically, you pick fourteen players (only one from each nation) and choose your team on either a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3 formation. No transfers or budget to play with here and the substitutes' point scores will only be used in the event of a tie.

This place looks very homemade and not very automated, so I don't know how well they'll do with updating all the statistics.

<br>A percentage of the
kitty will be shared out between the winners, depending on how many people take part.

Link: http://mysite.freeserve.com/fantasyworldcup/index. htm

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Predictions For Cash:

This free-to-enter competition is a promotion by Kimptoc Ltd and FreeFlats.

Basically you predict the scores of the World Cup matches, with a 1st prize of £500 for the manager with the most points.

There's also a facility to join a league.

Link: http://www.soccer2002.org.uk/portal/pane0/Home

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Fantasy Champions:

UK based outfit, established in 1999. The very first competition (Rugby World Cup) involved 39 players, with prize money totaling £78.

Since then, over 300 players have joined in the various competitions, with minimum prize money guaranteed at £200 per competition.

There's a £2 entry fee and the object is to predict wins and draws and who will win the groups and finish runner-up. Points are awarded on a sliding scale so that you get more points for getting the teams in the later stages correct.

The player with the most points wins £100, 2nd (£50), 3rd (£25), 4th (£15) and 5th (£10).

Link: http://www.fantasychampions.co.uk/world_cup.htm

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World Cup Predictions:

Another predict the results of matches in the 2002 World Cup. Nothing to win and you can't see much of what is going on without signing up.

Link: http://www.fantasyfacup.com/worldcup/default.asp

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~~ And last but not least.....

World Soccer Exchange:

Virtual football stock exchange where you can buy and sell fantasy shares in your favorite football players, managers and clubs.

Link: http://en.wsx.com

I thought I'd stick this one in at the end, although I haven't had time to
check it out properly, but at least I know where to find it when the World Cup is over...... or all my fantasy dream teams are having a nightmare.

Enjoy the World Cup build up..... but don't get so carried away with the fantasy football that you forget about the real thing.



Michel
http://1800-WorldCup.com

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