Football Superstars

Time certainly flies when you’re having fun. It seems only yesterday that we were frantically checking teams and getting ready to kick off season one of the Superstar League.  In fact it was a month ago, which means we are now halfway though.  Good heavens!

It’s certainly been a busy few weeks, with the teams cramming in their matches but no-one has yet to take a clear lead in any of the divisions.

For those of you who haven’t been keeping track, the Superstar League is in fact two separate competitions - the 1130 and 730 leagues.  The 11-a-side league has twelve teams within a single division all vying for the top slot.  Meanwhile the 7-a-side league needed three divisions to hold all of the teams.

State of play

The halfway point signals the start of the transfer period when the teams are able to tempt over players from other clubs and freshen up their rosters.  The teams are already busy making the transfers and you can check out who is going where by checking the Superstar League forum.

The next few weeks are going to be extremely tense.  Just looking at the 1130 league and Echelon FC are sat at the top with 19 points.  They can’t afford to get comfortable there though, as AFC Tigers and Universal FC are both only two points behind, and both with a game in hand.

Division One of the 730 league tells a similar story.  This time it is the Tigers at the top of the table, with both Storm FC and Devils FC nipping at their heels from two points away.  Of these, it is Storm who have the game in hand, and with this week including a fixture between Storm and Devils then the things look very interesting indeed.

Meanwhile in division two, Redwhite United are gripping onto the top slot, but only by the skin of their teeth with only a goal difference of one holding second place TS Wiselka at bay.  Both teams will need wins this week if they wish to hold off Team Hungary who are dangerously close with only two points between them and first place.

Things are looking a little more clear cut in division 3, where SFC Spirits are sitting pretty with fifteen points, five points clear of second place Multiple Scoregasms who are being threatened by FC Nemean Lions who are only one point behind.

Keeping things moving

Of course, this is just how things stand now.  A lot can change within a seven days, with most teams having two matches to play per week.

We’ll be back to have a look at how things stand in a week once the transfer window has closed and the players are settling into their new homes.  In the mean time you can follow the action yourself by checking out the fixtures, results and tables through the Tournament homepage. 

tumblrbot asked: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE INANIMATE OBJECT?

A Football of course!

We’re happy to announce that the Superstar Management system is now getting extended opening hours! Currently, Superstar Management is available between 00:00 and 05:00 GMT, at which point the game server is taken offline for its daily maintenance.  Going forward, it will be re-opening following this down time and will be available between 06:00 and 09:30 GMT, meaning there are a few more hours available for you to dive in and snap up those contracts or rack up the Football Training.

So the full opening hours are now:

00:00 - 05:00

06:00 - 09:30

Superstar Management will be returning to Football Superstars. It was taken offline last week while we were investigating issues with server stability.

We’re now happy to announce its return. However, Superstar Management will be running on a more limited capacity until the issue is resolved. As such, there will be set opening hours when the service will be available.

Starting tomorrow, Superstar Management will be available for use between 00:00 GMT and 05:00 GMT.

This means that EVERYONE WHO WISHES TO USE THE SUPERSTAR MANAGEMENT SERVICE CAN DO SO. Contracts will continue to run for their full three days as normal, this means you can only purchase a contract or a training session during these open hours.

While the times may be inconvenient for some, game stability is our primary concern and we would rather take this precaution than risk players having their gameplay disrupted.

We’ll keep you posted on any further changes.

Thank you for your understanding.

The Football Superstars Team.

Smith and his crack team of journalists have done it again and delivered another issue of Top Corner Magazine.

This is a World Cup special with a superb write up of the event as well as the regular player and PMC profiles and match write ups.

Check out the full magazine now

A million is a pretty big number by anyone’s standards… so we are going to celebrate having 1,000,000 players signed up to Football Superstars with a great “Play4Cash” event. The rules are very simple - all you need do is play Football Superstars between the 26^th July and the 2^nd August for a minimum of five hours, with five matches played, and you will be automatically entered into the $1,000,000 FSD prize draw!

We have 10 prizes of 100 FS Bonds (100,000 FSD) to give away, so get playing right now!

It couldn’t be simpler - so come celebrate with us this week!

(Please note that we will contact you via email, so please make sure that the address registered in your profile is correct and up to date!)

* Terms & Conditions apply

Help us celebrate with our great Play4Cash event

A million is a pretty big number by anyone’s standards… so we are going to celebrate having 1,000,000 players signed up to Football Superstars with a great “Play4Cash” event. The rules are very simple - all you need do is play Football Superstars between the 26^th July and the 2^nd August for a minimum of five hours, with five matches played, and you will be automatically entered into the $1,000,000 FSD prize draw!

We have 10 prizes of 100 FS Bonds (100,000 FSD) to give away, so get playing right now!

It couldn’t be simpler - so come celebrate with us this week!

(Please note that we will contact you via email, so please make sure that the address registered in your profile is correct and up to date!)

* Terms & Conditions apply

Back in May we announced the FS PMC World Cup event. Even then we knew this was going to be a biggy, as World Cup events have always had great responses. Combine that with the actual World Cup taking place in South Africa and it was sure to generate a lot of interest.

However, even we did not expect the level of response from the community. We received 495 team applications, with over a thousand players involved. From that rather epic response, we were faced with the rather daunting task of whittling it down resulting in us finishing with 39 valid teams and around 500 players.

June 30^th - Group stage

The event kicked off on Wednesday June 30^th, with the group stage. The groups were as follows:

Group A:

Ireland
USA
New Zealand
Egypt

Group B:

Poland
Estonia
France
Venezuela
Sweden

Group C:

South Africa
Korea DPR
Serbia
Argentina
Czech Republic

Group D:

Russia
Lithuania
Uruguay
Brazil

Group E:

Bulgaria
Hungary
Iran
Cameroon
Mexico

Group F:

Portugal
Spain
Netherlands
Greece
Australia

Group G:

Latvia
Romania
Turkey
Italy

Group H:

England
Ukraine
Germany
Cyprus

Kick off!

Things got off to a flying start in Group A with Ireland taking a storming 6-2 win over New Zealand, while the USA went one better to win 6-0 against Egypt. Then it was time for the swap and nothing much changed, with both Ireland and USA grabbing wins against Egypt and New Zealand respectively. This then meant that it was all down to the final match with USA facing off against Ireland. The Irish luck held out, with the green army putting four past the American keeper and receiving none in return, placing Ireland top of the group with USA second.

Meanwhile in Group B, Poland were out of the blocks with a 6-3 win over Sweden, and Estonia scraped a 3-2 over France. The Polish team struggled to keep up their momentum in their second match where they faced Estonia and both teams managed to grab a goal each. Despite this, the two teams continued to dominate their group, Estonia subsequently grabbing a 4-1 win over Sweden while Poland were relentless in winning a 9-2 result against France. The French team sought to regain their pride in the final match against Sweden, and while they bagged a 6-3 win, it wasn’t enough to see them qualify, meaning Poland finished top and Estonia came up second, with only goal difference separating the two.

Highs and Lows

Group C kicked off with a bitterly close game between South Africa and the Czech Republic, with South Africa just scraping through with a 1-0 win. Alas, the group was beset by troubles and the other teams were unable to play, meaning that after only one match, both South Africa and Czech Republic were able to progress through to the next stage.

Group D quickly established itself as the highest scoring group of the competition, with the first two games ending 8-3 in favour of Uruguay against Brazil, and then 5-3 for Russia against Lithuania. Lithuania were undaunted and followed up with a 6-4 win over Brazil while the Russians continue to steamroll their way through with an 8-2 win over Uruguay. The Lithuanians, now they had caught their stride, managed to pull out another win, with a 3-2 result against Uruguay while Russia, no longer content with a mere eight goals per match, put away nine in their final game against Brazil, who gamely fought back, but were only able to score two of their own. This resulted in Russia finishing top with a full nine points and a whopping sixteen goal difference, and Lithuania coming in second.

Bitter struggles

Group E was also beset by woes, with Iran and Cameroon both unable to complete their games. Nevertheless, Hungary put away a solid five goals against Mexico’s 3, but were subsequently hit by Bulgaria who went one better with a 6-3 against the Bulgarians and then followed it up with a 1-0 against Mexico, gaining them first place in the group and the Hungarians second.

Group F was probably the most bitterly fought of all the groups. The Iberian derby kicked off first with Portugal having to fight every step to gain a 3-2 win over Spain, while the Netherlands and Greece ended up in a stalemate, with both teams scoring three each.  However, the Greek phalanx wasn’t strong enough to stop the Portuguese advance, with the Greeks losing 3-2. However, the Netherlands once again fought their opposition to a standstill, with a 2-2 draw against confident Portuguese. In the final rounds of the group, the Greek defence finally crumbled and Spain managed to sweep through with a 7-2 win before picking up the pace with a crushing 9-2 win against the Netherlands. This meant that both Iberian teams were top of the group, the Portuguese only snapping the top place by one point.

Clash of the Titans

In Group G, tournament favourites Latvia were up against some stiff opposition, facing former champions Romania and runners up Turkey. However they were undaunted and, despite firm resistance, managed to win in all their games with a brutally close 3-2 against Romania, 6-1 against Italy and 4-3 against Turkey. Meanwhile the Romanians proved they were still a force to be reckoned with by winning 7-0 against Turkey and 6-1 against Italy. The Italians fared better against Turkey, but were unable to prevent them from winning 3-2. This placed Latvia firmly in the lead, with Romania in second place.

Finally, in Group H England would be facing off against their old rivals Germany. The Germans were an intimidating prospect, reaching the semis in both previous WC events, but fate was not smiling on them that night. Held at bay with a 1-1 draw against England, they fell afoul of the Ukrainian team who nabbed a 2-1 win, knocking them out. And while Cyprus withdrew from the event, England stormed ahead with a 2-0 win over Ukraine placing them top of the group and the Ukrainians second by one point.

Part two of the FS World Cup story is coming very soon, in the meantime why not view the final sixteen?

As football fever grips the planet, one group of players will not be affected by the altitude, the roundness of the ball or the shriek of the vuvuzelas - the competitors of the Football Superstars World Cup.

Fighting for the right to be crowned the best virtual football nation, 40 teams will do battle over a two day long online football fest, hoping to fuse the key elements of teamwork, football know how and of course gaming skill.

With only days remaining before the virtual athletes take to the pitch, there is much speculation as to which nation will take the title home, with competition bound to be stiff from the likes of the English, Turkish, Russian and Polish sides.

Finding the best players from each country is not easy, with so many players applying to play for the most popular countries; playoffs are underway to ensure that only the top strikers, midfielders and defenders can represent their home nation.

This isn’t the first World Cup Football Superstars has hosted. Previous winners have included the Russians and the Romanians, both winning in very closely fought finals Herr Blatter and co. would be proud of.

Community legend “Kadarn” says, “The response from the players has been amazing, with a massive uptake from so many different countries.

“Co-ordinating so many players across so many teams has been a mammoth task, but it’s great seeing the squads getting themselves ready, discussing tactics and arranging friendlies with other nations in the lead up to the main event.

“Thankfully, we don’t have to wait four years between World Cup events, and I’m already looking forward to future competitions in the months ahead.”

Making the FS World Cup a semi regular event has been received well by the thousands of players in game, helping to add to the authenticity of competition and reward. Football Superstars lends itself perfectly to tournament play with friends and fellow countrymen and women. You are responsible for yourself only, but building camaraderie amongst your team mates is as critical as it is in real life. If you make a bad pass, or miss a sitter, you will soon know about it!

Football Superstars is not only about playing, but about managing too. We are able to give the very best players the unique opportunity to manage their nation in events like this. Their team selections, formation choices and anything else that managers have to consider in the real world is mirrored in the game. We have even had stories of WAGS interrupting games at vital moments, thus influencing games - so managers are always keen to ensure that their player’s partners are in another room as games are being played!

In terms of who is going to win? My money is on Turkey. They have a lot of very good players, and have a strong manager who knows his stuff. That said, Russia and Poland will always be strong - they have a great set of players who can go all the way. England can win it if they perform on their day, but just like the real thing, one never knows which English team will turn up!

Remember to keep checking back to see the latest developments on the qualification and actual FS World Cup games.