Scoring from any situation in Pro Evolution Soccer 2 can be difficult for even the most experienced players at times. And nothing comes much harder than free kicks, especially when you do not know how to take them properly. Hopefully this month’s column will provide you with all you need to know about the free kick system in Konami’s KCET games.
First of all, let me point out that this month’s article will be referring to Pro Evolution Soccer 2. However much of what will be written applies to the Winning Eleven games also.
I find many people everyday, both on the PESInsight Forums and those who e-mail me, who say “Free kicks in PES are rubbish, it is impossible to score”. Are you lot mad? Free kicks are almost perfect. There are no childish arrows, no unrealistic amount of swerve, in fact nothing at all that FIFA has. Brilliant! But wait, maybe there’s something all of you “whiners” are missing. Ah yes… you probably did not PRACTICE. Practice is the first and foremost thing that you need to do before considering whether or not you like the free kick system. I guess though in order to practice some of you are going to need a few pointers. So here goes.
18m to 20m
These are those free kicks when you are really close to the goal, if you couldn’t guess from the above figures. The problem with these free kicks is that the wall is really close to the goal, meaning it is very difficult to get it up and over in time to go in the net… and of cause at the same time beating the goalkeeper. Most people go for the power method with these free kicks, hoping that the ball will go through the wall and obviously be too quick for the goalkeeper to reach. This, however, only works around 10% of the time from my experience, meaning it is pretty worthless especially in a big game situation.
What you should remember for these types of free kicks is that accuracy is much more important power. When selecting your taker always go for those who have good FK Accuracy and Shot Accuracy as opposed to good Shot Power. Of course, if your team is lucky enough to have a David Beckham or such like in the side then having the power will be an added bonus. You should also try to use a player with the foot that is opposite to the side of the pitch you are towards. For example when on the left of the box, use a right-footed kicker.
With your selected kicker over the ball, aim slightly to the left, or right, of the post furthest away from the goalkeeper. Allow the shot bar to progress around half way, and hold the analog stick southeast or southwest depending on the side of pitch (basically aim the analog stick away from goal). As long you do not hold the analog stick too far towards the bottom and you aimed up correctly, the ball should go over the wall and dip in time to be on target. The goalkeeper may well save it, but the higher the free kick takers stats, the lower the possibility of this.
21m to 28m
From this distance, free kicks should be handed to those with good stats in all areas. If you have a player who has 70 for each of the free kick attributes, and a player who has 99 for one attribute, but only 30 for another, you should always go for the player with the best average stats. This is because these free kicks require skill in all areas. First of all you need to be able to get the ball over the wall, which will require Shot and Free Kick Accuracy. Once over the wall, however, it is clearly important that the ball reaches the goal quickly which is why Shot Power is needed. Any keeper will easily deal with a shot that is too slow. Like closer free kicks, you should again consider using a player with the opposite foot to the side of the pitch you are on. Although it is not so important this time around as it is quite possible to score from this distance curling the ball the other way “around” the wall.
Once you have selected an appropriate taker aim, once again, to the corner away from the goalkeeper. If you are using a kicker with the same foot as the side of the pitch you are on, you will want to curl it around the wall; to do this aim slightly to the side of the post. If using a player with opposite foot, do as recommended for close free kicks and aim slightly inside the post. The power bar should be filled a little over half way, and the analog stick held northeast or northwest (according to your choice of kicker). Simple logic should tell you which is correct for your player… curling away from goal is not going to help when your already aiming there for example :)
If you are unfortunate enough to have a player with anything like reasonable stats for free kicks, you should consider passing the ball, preferably out to the wings in order to put a cross in. This will put off the defence momentarily and the cross is likely to find the head of one of your players.
29m or more
If only I had a pound for every time I have tried free kicks from his distance! Although not impossible, any free kick from this sort of distance is very difficult to score from, and requires a certain degree of luck or poor goalkeeping. I have only ever scored two free kicks from this distance, both with Juan Sebastian Veron, so as you can imagine, do not expect many goals if you attempt to shoot from this distance.
Supposing you don’t have either Roberto Carlos, or another player with massively high shot power, I recommend you cross the ball with these free kicks. If you do happen to have a player with tremendous shot power (as well as a fair amount of Free Kick Accuracy) then aim to the corner furthest away from the goalkeeper (as always) and hold the analog stick up. No need for any particular amount of curl, but you may find curling useful for players with a similar run-up style to Carlos.
USER SUBMITTED HINTS
Thanks to the 50 plus e-mails I received from readers regarding this weeks column issue. Here is a selection of the best-submitted Free Kick hints I received.
“When taking close range free kicks aim the ball at the side of goal where the wall isn’t and press the cross button (full power) and press and hold down on the pad. This makes the ball go across the ground, fooling the keeper who dives the other way. This works 70%-80% of the time.”
Submitted by Chris Allaway
“Depending on who you are taking them with is essential for scoring that vital goal. Free kicks, which are situated to the left of the field, should be taken with a left footed player, as it is much easier to bend the ball this way and Vice-Versa with right-sided free kicks. When far out, hold up whilst your player strikes the ball which should give it that extra power (imagine the speed of Carlos' free kick with this technique). When you are quite close to the goal, simply switch your tactics so that you're holding down whilst your player strikes the ball which should give you a dip in your shot (ideal for Beckham with his curving technique).It is vital that you hold left or right as soon as the ball leaves your players foot, pressing one of these will determine which way your player curves the ball.”
Submitted by Michael Kamara
“When taking free kicks close to the goal try and press the up directional button which will make the ball go at a lower projectory but there is a chance that the ball might go through the wall leaving the goal keeper with no chance.”
Submitted by Cedric
“If you ever get a free-kick with David Beckham any where very close to the goal, instead of using the shoot button, press lob and hold up. As long as you aim as far in to the opposite corner from the goalkeeper, and use a decent amount of power, it should go straight in to the net ALL of the time. This trick also works with every other player in the game, but it is not always as successful.”