• don [del]
• 2010-02-26

We have decided to let users choose what skill name appearance they want. It is possible to set on your user page settings. The first option is to leave the skills as it is. You can choose for numbers to appear as a hint on mouse over. The final option is to have the numbers appear alongside the skill levels permanently.

Numbers in languages that were in skill names before will be now removed.

• Arnau [del]
• 2010-02-08

Our developers have some news to share:

Juniors:

Plus users now have more, readily available, information about their junior players in the juniors page. Graphics have been improved, they can see the list of matches played by the junior player and, as the main addition, they may make notes on each player. This will allow better monitoring of their youth players.

Mail:

Most bugs related to the recent change in the mail system have been fixed.

Junior leagues:

We introduced the search of teams by both id and name. The various appearances of the team searched in the standings, played matches and upcoming matches will be highlighted in a different color. This new feature is in beta and will be upgraded soon.

As usual, this update of the site has been used to make small improvements and fix several minor bugs, the notes in friendlies being one of them.

• don [del]
• 2010-01-29

The biggest event for the National Teams is well underway, now that the group stages have been completed. From now on, its the knock-out stages. The following countries made it through and will play each other on Saturday. Be sure not to miss any of it!

All countries mentioned second are the winners of their groups.

Česká Republika - Polska

Playing against arguably the best country in Sokker, Česká Republika have a tough match ahead. Still, there are no easy matches on this level and the Polish will have to take their opponent seriously.

Brasil - USA

In an epic match which involved a comeback from 0-3 to a 4-3 Brasil managed to grab the second place in the Group of Death. Now they will have to play the USA, lead by one of the best tacticians the English have to offer.

Hrvatska - Deutschland

It's said football is a game of ninety minutes with Germany winning. It's up to Hrvatska to prove the saying wrong!

Columbia - Argentina

Argentina managed to win the Group of Death, which involved beating Brasil, New Zealand and Holland. Columbia however managed to beat the country which managed to win the Top Team Tournament, Spain. Spain did beat Poland at that time.

Lietuva - England

Lietuva is a strong country with an impressive track record. England managed to win in another Group of Death, beating Italy and Mexico. An impressive feat for Ermejo, who never lead an NT before. Italy didn't even manage to get ouf this group, which is one of the bigger upsets this WC!

Eesti - België

Eesti is often described as the Second Best country. This time they had some trouble getting through. They now get to play België, who have in Deroo one of the best strikers in the world. België is led by an old fox: Borkos. Without doubt the most exciting match!

México - España

España, the winners of the Top Team Tournament, face now México which managed to grab second place after England against most expectations. The very experienced Chinese will have to figure out something to beat the powerful Spanish. Both sides expressed their dismay at facing such a powerful opponent.

Österreich - Slovensko

Slovensko, lead by Mapec, is easily underestimated. France is probably still regretting the choice to play a 4-x-x against Slovensko in the opening match of the group stage, which ended in a 2-2. Österreich is said to be a team with a very solid defence. Coming from USA's NT coach, known for his staunch defending, that is saying something. Both teams are considered outsiders, but don't let that fool you: they may just surprise you yet!

• rtg [del]
• 2010-01-17

Champions Cup Final: The time has come
Yes, we are here. There is no way back now. On Thursday 21st January we will know who the best of the best is; we will know the first Sokker World Champion.

After two pulsating semi-finals we have the two finalists, they have already defeated six powerful rivals, in a lot of peoples eyes both of them are already champions, but like in Highlander the movie: There can be only one.
Just one immortal who will be remembered forever as the first team to win the most important club's cup of the game.
Who will it be?

We don't know yet, but we would like to analyze both finalist to help you to understand both teams a bit better and after reading we invite you to show us your preferences.

If If Between
The three times French Cup Champion made a great comeback to win his semi-final against the terrific Team Niløse. It was a very close game that ended 2:1. The Danish team began better and took the lead in 27 minutes thanks to a great header from Tymianek who finished a killer high ball from Horejš . That goal spurred the players on of manager Benwa and ten minutes later a counterattack initiated by a long pass from defender Garnero ended on the feet of the Romanian skilful striker Gabrian who dribbled round the keeper and slid the ball into the net nonchalantly to tie the game. From that moment the If If boys took control of the game and finally on the 63rd minute a beautiful combination between Garnero and Croatian Midfielder Bajčeta who then made an impressive through pass to left allowed Gabrian through one on one with the keeper who couldn't stop the second and final goal. The French team then defended their lead effectively until the referee blew the final whistle to conclude this tense and very tactical semi-final.

At a press conference held just before the semi-final, manager Benwa was questioned about his possibilities to reach the final. His answer to the Colombian Press Agency was: "I hope :) But, I'm one of the weaker team’s ratings wise since the last 16. So I need to rely heavily on my tactical senses to win the semi final and make be the final."

Now that we know that his tactical nous made him win and reach the final in a fantastic way, we have the key question: will his sense be enough to defeat the cup's surprise package Arsenal?

Arsenal
The Spanish cup holders never tire of surprising all of us. His semi-final against FC Red Card was very impressive indeed. Arsenal dominated from the beginning with a pushed up 5 defensive line and clearly won the match by a 6:2 score. Despite the fact that Arsenal were missing some of their best players, you wouldn’t have noticed it. They just passed away against the three times Finland Cup Champion. The powerful Swedish striker Wallen piling in with 4 goals and the Brazilian young star Nelo with 2 goals, supported by solid and creative polish midfielders Masajada and Stanisz both with a couple of assists to their name put this tie to bed easily.
15 minutes after the beginning of the second half the Finland guys seem to start a spirited comeback when they scored their first goal through the sensational striker Podliński, but Arsenal stepped up another gear and scored three more goals. Comfortable victory in the end for the Spanish team.
After this victory we could say that the Spanish Cup Champions have been sensational, the Arsenal manager Cesc knows it and during a Spanish Press Conference stated: "I agree, we have played very well although there were a couple of things to improve on if we want to win the final. I'm happy, it's obvious, but to reach the final will be worthless if we don't win it – no one ever remembers the runners up. So we will have to make it perfect to win this trophy."

There is no doubt that this will be a great final, maybe the best we could have asked for at the beginning of the tournament. Two teams who did not start as the favourites. Two outsiders that have reached this final with great tactics, proving that in this game the team with the better players and most money doesn’t mean they will win the match.

We will have to wait until Thursday to know who will make the better tactic, who will pick the best team, who can inspire their players the best to give more than 100%, which of them will exploit the rival's weaknesses, to step forward and for the first time be crowned Sokker World Club Champion.


In the meanwhile we invite you to enjoy the summary of both semi-finals made by Brazilian Press Agency: Sokker News

• rtg [del]
• 2010-01-12

Champions Cup: Pulsating Semi-finals

The most prestigious club cup in Sokker reaches its final stages.

This first edition of the Champions Cup has exceeded everyone’s expectations. Throughout the first 5 rounds there have been disputed games where we have seen interesting tactics, unexpected twists, amazing moves and many goals.

Those 5 rounds have made us tingle with excitement and now 124 teams have been knocked out, leaving only 4 semi-finalists. It will be the mother of all battles, both semi-finals promise an intense fight, a great tactical deployment with the representatives from Finland, France, Denmark and Spain, giving their best to achieve the long-awaited and much longed Sokker Champions Cup.

Of these 4 teams will be the champion of champions: the first club to be World Champion of Sokker. So we want to present a little history of these teams that have struggled to get here:

If If Between

This powerful team led by its manager Benwa has won the first division three times and is one of the strongest teams in France. He reached the semi-finals by knocking out various rivals teams, for example: the racing Bafoussam (League and Cup champions Cameroon), the Venezuelan league championship (Barsa FC) and overcame the last days before the mighty champions Germany (Die Halbstark), Romania (Corinthians) and Lithuania (SPORBAT AIR). Next Thursday they face the formidable Danish champions Team Niløse.

Team Niløse

After doing the double last season this extraordinary team led by its manager Crameren can make history in this first edition of the Cup. Why? Of the 4 semi-finalists he is the only one with potential to achieve an unprecedented hat-trick if he wins the Cup. His path to the semi-finals has been flawless, knocking out the likes as: JIocu (league and cup champion from Belarus), Vietnamese champions (RedRiverHanoi), double cup and league champions Indian (unsinkable) and the mighty Ducks (Cup winners in the Czech Republic) in the second round and Chnos FC (Winners of the doublet in the Mexican league) in the quarterfinals. On Thursday he faces his hardest challenge yet in If If Between. Can he get one stage closer to that historic feat of getting the triple crown?

FC Red Card
This Finnish team has twice won the top division of their country and the cup three times, one of which was last season, which gave him the passport to be one of the two Finnish representatives in the Champions Cup. During these five rounds he has progressed without any hitches to reach the semi-finals, defeating powerful rivals like Baráti Kör FC (Hungarian cup winner), Zitzer (Norwegian league and cup winner) or Drahkov Juventus (winner of the first division of the Czech Republic). In addition to FC Red Card and his manager reca he will be remembered in Belgium for a long time, eliminating Belgian champions (All Stars United) in the second round Cup and the champion of that country SSLazio Roma in the quarter - end. In semi-finals he will have a tough battle against Spanish Arsenal.

Arsenal

The Spanish Cup winner is the biggest surprise of the tournament. He reached the Champions Cup as one of the "newbies" as it was the first time he won the Cup in his country and was still playing within the second league. This season will undoubtedly be historic for Arsenal and their manager Cesc, apart from the achievement of winning the Cup in Spain, he also promoted for the first time the top division. In the quarterfinals, they surprisingly defeated one of the favourites of the competition; Kakaowi Żołnierze the winner of the Polish league and cup. Moreover, his path has been very difficult and turbulent in a derby duel in the second round against another Spanish team in the competition for Real Oviedo (winner of the Spanish first division) and in the early rounds Hergiswil II defeated FC (champions Switzerland), the Australian champions (The Black Flash) and the winner of cup and league Latvia (Digital Slayers). Despite having beaten big teams to get to the semi-finals, injuries and form may cost this team a place in the final.

On Thursday we will know which of these 4 teams will be in the final and finally discover who is the best team in the Sokker world!

• rtg [del]
• 2009-12-06

It is election time again! You will have the opportunity to stand for election as the national team coach (either Senior or U21) of any nation, and vote a Senior and U21 manager for your own nation.

To access the election page, go to the respective country homepage, then click on National Team, and then Elections.

If you stand for election, it is recommended that you open ONE thread in the appropriate country forum after the elections start. Please prefix your thread with [NT] or [U21] , e.g. [NT] forestman or [U21] guacamole. Please do NOT spam forums, SK-mail people directly for votes, or spam users Guest Books. Any of these spammy activities will result in forum banning and/or financial fine.

Please remember that a user who has been elected as an NT manager will not be able to resign from their job. Therefore when you stand for the NT job, it is not only for fun, it is also your responsibility to serve the full term which the people that voted you into the job thought you should serve.

Elections will start on the 7th and end on 20th December @ 22:15 so start preparing your speeches, asking candidates tough questions & voting!

• rtg [del]
• 2009-11-30

Next season we are introducing a junior team’s competition for clubs. Every team that has at least 11 juniors may join junior leagues.

League System

A new junior team always joins the lowest division in the country, irrespective of the division the senior club is playing in. Junior league levels is exactly the same number as the number of senior leagues. The junior divisions are not divided into 8 team leagues - all teams from each junior division level compete in same league (so same league table). Every week the rounds are generated randomly. The league table is divided in half, top half teams play each other, lower half league teams also play each other. In the lower league there is a potential where there is an odd number of teams, so the same team may not get a match in the next round. This is counted and therefore if you find your team with a free week you will definitely have a game the following week. Junior league matches do not affect your team ranking, however, it does affect supporters mood, but several times less than a friendly senior match. You can also expect a lot less supporters turning up to the games in comparison to your senior matches.

Promotion And Relegation

Each junior season has 14 rounds, just like the senior teams season. After all the rounds are played the top junior teams automatically qualify to higher league. The maximum size of each junior division is the equivalent of the senior division. The number of teams promoted from and relegated to a lower division is always 50% of the maximum size of the division. However if the division is not filled, the number of teams relegated would be as small as possible
For example, if there are 32 teams in IInd league, 16 team are relegated and 16 can be promoted from lower division. But if in the IInd league there are only 20 teams, so 4 teams are relegated and 16 teams are promoted from IIIrd (4 teams in place of relegated teams and 12 teams on free places).

Your junior players

You can only play with players from your junior school in the junior match. Within the junior school you can now see the preferred position of a player (outfield or goalkeeper), age and total skill of each junior, but you don't see individual skills as they remain hidden. The distribution of individual skills is set for each junior when he comes to your junior team; each individual skill grows with the overall skill when your junior trains each week.
If you want to know the skills distribution before the junior is promoted, you will have to play him in junior matches, and verify his aptitude on various positions.

Other influences

A modification from the previous system is that your junior coach’s general skill now decides on exactly how the total skills of each junior are determined. The higher the coach level, the more exact the junior level determined. Also, the more matches your junior plays, the more adequately the coach knows his total skill and shows it to you. If a junior does not play in a match it does not affect his training - he will still get full training.
Notice, there was no change on the actual speed that juniors are trained, the only modification is how your coach shows the overall level and.... that you now can play matches with your junior teams :)

• rtg [del]
• 2009-11-29

Starting with this season, the top teams of each country in sokker will take part in the sokker club Champions Cup. The total number of participants in the Champions Cup is 128 teams. This total is made up of the following teams:
- 95 League Champions from each country that already have a national team.
- 33 National Cup winners from the countries that have the highest national ranking.

If it occurs, that one team wins both National Championship and National Cup, then the Champions Cup place moves down to a National Cup winner from the next country in the national ranking.

This competition is by means of knockout and shall provide the same amount of training for your players as an official game does currently.

Champions Cup games will be played on Thursdays. The draw shall be seeded based on your teams current ranking.

• rtg [del]
• 2009-11-29

From the first friendlies after the play-off games a new match engine shall be installed.
In this new engine the major changes are all related with your new junior teams to enable junior matches to be played.
Juniors play based on their current hidden skills, which level the play at is related with how well their total skill is visible on your junior’s page. Juniors will play as if they were in superdivine form. The juniors pace, for game purposes, shall be increased by 5%. This is to make the viewing of the junior games less dull. Juniors cannot be injured after the match i.e. if they are injured during the game they will make a speedy recovery directly after the game is finished. Yellow/Red cards and goals are not recorded either.

Other modifications are:

- Players height, the taller the player is, decides on how well they perform on a heading duel with opponents, on the other hand the shorter they are will allow the player to speed up quicker (but maxim speed is still same for short and tall players and depends on their pace skill).
Height has been balanced to not favour short or tall players, but it does matter what style of play you prefer - e.g. if you use the wing more, passes on head or rather through passes.
- Players may now block an opponent slightly while running to the ball, how good they block depends on their experience. For example an experienced defender will be able to either block or at least slow the attacker somewhat. Players will not block while heading. That change was tested three seasons ago and is now introduced.
- Tactical Discipline skill will now have an increased influence on the player’s position accuracy according to tactics during match.
- A defender will now watch if their team mate is behind them and basing on it decide to dribble or to pass in a hurry if opponent is close, this will decrease number of stupid loses of ball by defenders and also let you use defenders in offensive actions.
- NT players will get 50% of training instead of 33% while playing in a national match
- The offside numbers are now counted and displayed

• rtg [del]
• 2009-11-28

We are introducing a new feature that will be short messages, displayed as a pop-up box, informing user about some events. You can also review the notifications within your mailbox.

Initially only notifications listed below are ready:
- You have new mail
- Someone has overbid your offer

We plan to be adding the following notifications in the future as shown below:
- A user has read your mail
- Your player has been selected or removed from NT or U21
- You have sold a player
- A manager has asked you to form a pact
- You have been challenged to a friendly match
- Your invitation to a friendly match has been accepted
- Someone has signed your guestbook (Plus)
- A friend or observed user has written a new press announcement(Plus)
- Someone has replied to your post in the forums
- Your Plus has expired or is soon to expire (Plus)
- A player in your briefcase is on the transfer list (Plus)
- A friend or observed user is online (Plus)

Modification will take effect 7-8 december, after play-off games