PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 3 STRATEGY GUIDE
VERSION 2.0
Version 1.0 - Initial set-up, starting 11, 11 you want, 11 you should buy,
promising players and strategies.
Version 2.0 - added shooting, defending, added more tactics and players of
note.
Version 2.1 - Added Free Kick and Penalty taking tips.
Version 2.2 - Added Corner Kick, inperfections of the game.
Version 2.21 More mistakes in game
Contents:
1. About Me.
2. About the FAQ.
3. Copyright.
4. The game.
5. Your starting 11.
6. The 11 you should buy as soon as possible.
7. Players of note.
8. The 11 you really want.
9. Promising Players.
10. Tactics .
11. Shooting.
12. Free Kicks.
13. Corner Kicks
14. Penalty Kicks.
15. Defending.
16. Strategies.
17. This game isn't perfect (shock!)
18. Thanks
1. About me
I am David Colebrook. I am 16 years old and am currently sitting my Highers
in Scotland. I live in Falkirk, near Edinburgh and am a big rock n' roll fan.
Contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
2. About the FAQ.
This being my first FAQ, I decided to write about a game that I both enjoy and
possess a reasonable amount of skill at.
FAQ started (version 1.0) 12 January 2004.
Version 2.0 started 13th Jan. 2004
This FAQ shall be done whenever I?m not revising for my exams, and so might
take a while.
3. Copyright.
Please don't nick my stuff. I don't believe that I have stolen anyone else's
and I assume you will not nick mine.
This FAQ is copyright protected:
Copyright 2004 David Colebrook
This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other
web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a
violation of copyright.
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4. The Game
Pro Evolution 3 is the sequel to the hugely successful Pro Evolution 2.
Firstly, make sure you do the tutorials in the training section so that you
at least know some tips (i.e. shooting low and hard etc.)
The part of the game that that I will be concentrating on is the Master League
section. This is where you take the team of your choice from the lower
division to yon high place, feeling all high and mighty in the process.
You will start off in division 2 of one of four regions, taking in either the
English, Italian, Spanish and German teams to generalise the four.
NOTE: THE NAMES IN THIS FAQ HAVE BEEN ALTERED TO REFLECT THE REAL LIFE TEAMS
AND PLAYERS, FOR INFORMATION ON THESE CHANGED NAMES, REFER TO ANOTHER GUIDE
IN GAMEFAQS.
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5. Your Starting 11.
No matter who you choose as your team, be it AC Milan or Chievo, you will
always start with the same starting set of players.
These players are utterly hopeless, and almost incapable of playing football
at a moderately difficult level with. Start off by getting Vorander into your
starting squad, as he is one of the few who possess any real skill.
If you are starting a new game, it is likely that you will be using the one
or two star difficulty level. This is nothing to be ashamed of, as it will
take time for you to develop your talents and to find the best style of play
to fit your team.
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6. The 11 you should buy as soon as possible
As you inevitably lead your hapless squad to the 1st division, you should
heed my advice and fork out for a few players. In this version of the game,
free agents still required points to buy, and all players will drain a salary
from your funds.
Buy a new goalkeeper, a centre back, and a new striker.
Depending on what team you started out with, you may have players like
Van Nistelrooy or Raul as free agents. These players are going to require
large amounts of money to join you club, as reputation also plays a part in
the pulling power of big names.
Occasionally, you may find that the computer offers for some of your starting
players. Sell them, as it won't really reduce the quality of the team by much,
and increase the number of players you can purchase in the close-season.
I chose AC Milan to start with, and the following players were content to come
to my club after the first season:
Carini - GK
Nesta, Maldini, Ayala -CB
Rivaldo -LM
Illola, Ballack -CM/DM
Rui Costa, Ljungberg - RM
Okocha, Ortega - OFM
Shevchenko, Larsson -CF
As you increase the skill of your squad, keep increasing the difficulty until
you are being kept to a one or two goal victory. With the above squad you
should be able to definitely win on 4 stars, and keep in mind that there are
still players on a free e.g. for Milan - Seedorf, Inzaghi, Pirlo, Dida etc.
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7. The 11 you really want.
Firstly, most people will invariably create themselves when they start the
game. It is compulsory to make your player the captain and the best player
with most people, including myself. This is one less space you need to fill
in your dream 11.
To unlock the best players from football's glorious past, you will need to
acquire PES points. These are awarded at the end of each mach, and are
different from the salary and transfer funds. You will receive 50 points for
each win and 2000 for victory in the league. The other way to build points
is to complete the challenges in the training section. The better skill level
the challenges, the more points awarded.
It will cost 150 points to unlock a player, but that I find myself only buying
Eusebio and Yashin. To unlock a classic team costs 1000 points, and these
include: Brazil, France, Argentina, Germany, Holland and England. Unlock the
Brazilians, the Argentineans, the Germans and the Dutch first, as the players
in my 11 would only come from these teams. England has the worst selection of
"classic" players, and it is hardy worth purchasing.
The squad that that I have found to be most capable of defeating the computer
at 5 stars quite comfortably is:
Lev Yashin - GK
Nesta, Sammuel, Cannavaro - CB
Rijkaard, Beckenbauer-DM
Figo/Rui Costa - RM
Promising player/Rivaldo -LMF
Pele/Zidane/Rui Costa - OM
Maradonna, Eusebio - CF
on the bench:
Kiralay - GK
Ayala, Desailly, Maldini - CB
Viera, Ballack, Illola -DM
Fortune - LM
Henry, Shevchenko, Larsson - CF
For this team that I have tried to limit my use of players from the past to
first team players. Very rarely does a past player make my bench.
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8. Players of Note
The lists above are by no means the definitive collection of the best
players. This section will give you an idea of who else might be perfect for
your chosen tactic and strategy. Players marked with a star are from the
classic teams and players section.
Goalkeepers:
Kahn
Buffon
Van der Sar
Zoff *
Defenders:
Stam
Nowontny
Almeyda
Ivan Cordoba
Hyypia
Beresi *
Vogts *
Gentile *
Midfielders:
Nedved
Roy Keane
Beckham
Veron
Bonhof *
Gulit *
R. Koeman *
Netzer *
Overath *
Stoichkov *
Zico *
Strikers:
Vieri
Crespo
Del Pierro
Owen
Di Stefano *
Best *
Puskas *
Cruyff *
Van Basten *
Jairzinho *
Garrincha *
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9. Promising Players.
You will find promising players in team section, next to edited players.
These players all start off very poor players, and it is your task to make
them good through good performances. For beginners, shoving the difficulty
down to 1 star and getting 20 assists and 4 goals for your promising forward
will indeed get you 80 points a match, but it is much more satisfying when
he beats Buffon on 5 stars.
These players are awarded points, which you can add to their stats in the
promising player section. The number of points they gain per match depends
on the rating out of 10 that they get at the end of the match. The rating
can be viewed in the Individual Information section.
I have found that the maximum number of points varies depending on what
position they play in.
Forward/Midfielders - 80
Defenders - 40
Only twice was that I able to break 40 points with my defender, and because of
this, he failed to pass the average skill of my benched defenders.
(if anyone has additional information regarding why this is, please e-mail
me at the given address)
With 80 points each game, the striker should be virtually perfect, Pilineak
is a perfect example, as he is left footed, and can also play on the wing.
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10. TACTICS
Whilst at AC, the strategy of 3-4-3 was effectively used, as was 3-2-4.
3-4-3
ML
CB
DM CF
GK CB CF
DM CF
CB
MR
This tactic is best used to control the midfield and to cover your advancing
midfielders. If provided protection to the back and support to the forwards.
3-2-4
WL
CB DM
CF
GK CB OM
CF
CB DM
WR
This tactic should really only be used if you are going full out for a goal,
or have fast wingers that can finish well. It is essential to have excellent
Defensive Midfielders whilst using this tactic, as the flanks are free for
the opposition to exploit.
4-4-2
LB LB
CB CM CF
GK
CB CM CF
RB RM
Defensively the 4-4-2 is the most solid formation. Having the left/right back
will cover your wingers defensive duties as well as coming inside for central
attacking teams. A draw back with this system is that inevitably your team
will be crowded out in the attacking positions, and so you should vary your
midfield to account for possibly and attacking midfielder.
4-3-3
LB
CF
CB CM
GK CM CF
CB CM
CF
RB
This formation takes a beating from teams with good wingers, and will suffer
a serious lack of width in attack. Having 3 strikers will help your forward
players to create more chances, but don't expect much support to come from
the midfield!
3-5-2
LM
CB
CM CF
GK CB OM
CM CF
CB
RM
This strategy will give you almost complete control of your midfield. The
computer will try and get in behind your wingers by luring them out and
passing to another player, but don't worry, as that?s what the defensive
midfielders are there for. Being less stretched than the only slightly
different 3-4-3, it will make for a tougher midfield to break down and a more
compact team altogether.
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11. Shooting
Obviously, scoring goals is the aim of the game, and unless you can do this
well, you might as well give up!
a) The Drill
The drill is a low shot normally from the edge of the box. As with all
shooting the power bar should only be 1/4 full, or a light press of the shoot
button. Used most effectively after poor defensive clearances (i.e. corner
kick) or in use with the "SMACK IT" strategy in the next section.
b) Chipping the keeper
There are three ways to chip the keeper:
i) If you have a very skilful player you can quickly move the right analogue
stick form "down to up" and the player will chip the ball up.
ii) If the 'keeper is diving at your players feet, press R1 immediately after
shooting, this will make the player gently dink the ball over the 'keeper
iii) If the keeper has come along way off of his line, and you are not in the
box; try HOLDING L1 while you shoot. Beware, if your player is of
insufficient skill, the ball WILL end up in row Z. Works best will just
under half power, from around the 18 yard line.
c) The Dummy
If you are one on one with the keeper, and are not attempting the chip, try a
dummy before you go pat the keeper. This will leave an empty net for you
attacker to score into. Dummy by pressing X immediately after pressing shoot.
d) Wide shot
if you have a player that is right footed, they must be on the right hand
side of the box, and vice versa for the left hand side. From the edge of the
box, just run straight to the bye line, and shoot when you are at a 45 degree
angle with the near post. If your player is accurate, the shot should go high
into the near top corner. If however the player is still running, he will
more than likely hit the side netting, try and slow him down just before
shooting.
e) The diagonal shot
When in the box, the easiest method of scoring is to simply turn and diagonally
run towards the goal. Simply tapping the shoot button will normally result
in a goal.
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12. Free Kicks
I find free kicks are incredibly hard to score in this game. The wall always
manages to jump and block my shots, but i have discovered a way to take
advantage of this. Even this method has it's flaws though.
You need to be in or around the D to do this. If the free kick is to the
left of the D, make a right-footer take the kick, and vice versa for the
other side. Aim in-between the legs of the central man in the wall, or the
leg of the man to his left.
Hold down on the d-pad and fill the power bar by pressing circle. This will
drill the ball low and hard, and with the curl, it should end up sneaking into
the net before the keeper can scramble across to collect it. Try perfecting
this technique in training, as you will need to find the sweetest line up for
your player.
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13. Corner Kicks
There is one technique that i've found to work more often than others:
Get you kicker to be able to swing in the corner bey apointing a left footer
for right corners and a right footer for left corners. This player needs to
have high accuracy (obviously). Fill the bar to the mark at 50% and press
the d-pad in the in-swing direction. This will send (hopefully) a low hard
cross into the near post for a cool headied finish. The head it lands on
normally belongs to a defender, and so sometimes it does miss (the same
applies to poor crosses of course).
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14. Penalty Kicks
After having considerable difficulty converting penalties in matches, I
decided to work out the best place to put the ball percentage-wise. The
kicker had a star for penalty taking as did the keeper for penalty stopping.
20 kicks were taken and these were the results:
Straight down the middle - 90%
Low middle - 75%
Left bottom corner - 50 %
Left top corner - 75%
Right bottom corner - 95%
Right top corner - 70%
The player taking the penalties was right footed, and this may have affected
the percentage for the bottom left hand corner.
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15. Defence
There isn't a lot to the defensive side of the game unfortunately. When being
attacked down the wing, use a defender to tackle just in front of him. If you
are being attacked down the centre do the same, or shepherd him out to the wing
to buy time for your defence to get organised.
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16. Strategies
WINGPLAY
Get your Side Midfielders to try and beat their marker and get to the final
third. Proceed to run until level with 6 yard line before double tapping
circle. This will send a cross into the near post, where, hopefully, a
striker will be running in to either volley or header the ball.
Midfielders must have good long pass ac. and speed.
PATIENCE
Patience is an excellent tactic to implement in this version of the game.
When you pick the ball up, give your forwards time to get into their
respective positions before linking a series of passes, going back if need
be. Eventually, you will have the ball at either a winger or the attacking
midfielder. Look for a diagonal ball into a striker, or work the ball across
the face of the box. Luckily, either a striker or a winger would have space
for you to shoot.
This tactic is also excellent for getting players sent off when playing your
mates....as they will become so frustrated at you linking 30 passes together
they will lunge in, exposing a gap in their team for you to expose.
THE EXTRA MAN
If the opposing team is unfortunate enough to have a man sent off, it is
your duty to ruthlessly exploit that gap for all the goals you can. If the
player is a defender on the wings; it will benefit WINGPLAY, if a central
player, it will benefit PATIENCE.
SMACK IT
If you are having a hard time grinding down the opposing team, or are on a
counter attack, this variation of WINGPLAY might just be the remedy. Make
your winger run up the wing, and instead of crossing, turn 180 degrees,
hopefully fooling the computer. Look for a running Offensive Midfielder and
tee it up for him. Don?t fill the power bar; just 1/4 is normally sufficient
to finish with a low drive. This also looks great in replays.
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17. This game isn't perfect (shock!)
I have noticed some inconsistencies in this game:
The ref's award fouls for perfectly reasonable tackles which clearly win the
ball first.
The ref' never awards a free kick for the blantent hand-offs the computer
gives you players so very often.
What was the point of putting a hand ball foul in the game? Someone tell me,
as it is the most rediculous thing in a sports sim. that i have ever played.
You can't choose to handle the ball, so why award fouls for things which you
have no control over? This puzzles Colos.
The computer always marks players perfectly, so that when you recieve the
ball, the push you in the back and win the ball.
The computer wins battles of pace that it has no right to.
The pace stats are poor. (Numan has more pace than Henry? That's just
wrong I tell thee!)
When you are trying to pass to a player in a perfect position, some tool in
your team will normally be one foot away from the passing player. As a
result, Konami have decided that it is best to pass to people that are marked
and one foot away than unmarked and in the actual direction you are pressing
your analogue stick. This is very frustrating! And when you find the player,
the pass is normally played with such a feeble weight that it is intercepted.
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18. Thanks
Don?t have that many people to thank, as all of this came off my own bat.
Thanks to Konami for making the game and to YOU for reading it.
Thanks also to Richard (yorae86) for giving me more stuff to research and add
to the FAQ.
