Soccer fun found in game's details

Soccer fun found in game's details
By RYAN HUSCHKA
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
"World Soccer Winning Eleven 7 International," Konami for PlayStation 2, $39.99. Rating: E (Everyone). Four stars (out of four).
The game is tied 1-1 late in the second half. It's been a back-and-forth struggle all day, with both teams marching up and down the pitch. During a strong surge by the visitors, I wallop a free ball away from my goalmouth, but I accidentally blast one of my own defenders with the ball squarely between the legs. He keels over in agony, and the opposing team's striker promptly buries the ball in the back of the net. I lose, 2-1.
That hurts -- on so many levels. But that's soccer for you, folks; particularly, a brand of ultra-realistic footie fun found only on the virtual fields of the stellar "Winning Eleven 7."
This game's winning formula is found in the details. The subtle bounces of the ball are exactly what you'd expect. The players' movements are eerily lifelike. And the ball goes exactly where you want it (ahem) most of the time.
The refs are smarter, too, allowing a team to maintain its advantage and play on after a foul instead of stopping the action. Of course, the newly acquired humanity also means they're likely to blow calls every now and then (and they'll do it on purpose, too, if they don't like you).
The game is a winner off the field, too. You can chart your club's rise to the top in the insanely deep franchise mode, which allows you to mold your team into a champion using every imaginable facet (such as through player trades, training your promising upstarts and -- gasp! -- practice). Or you can just play a quick friendly with seven of your friends.
Despite its game-play formula, "Winning Eleven 7" will always be haunted by the dreaded coulda-woulda-shouldas. It could have had online play, but it doesn't. It could have had better menus; nope, sorry, they're still clunky. It should have had licensed rosters, uniforms and player names -- well, maybe next year.
If you're a real f & uacute;tbol fanatic, and you care more about the quality of action on the field than the accuracy of the clubs' rosters, this is the soccer game for you.