Having just acquired FIFA 2005 I have began the preliminary stages of learning how to play. Considering myself as an alright FIFA player (2003 and 2004) I was very happy to stumble upon this.

FIFA INTERACTIVE WORLD CUP 2004

The FIFA Interactive World Cup 2004 is the first ever global football gaming competition, where the world's best players of EA SPORTS™ FIFA 2005 on Xbox will battle for the right to become the FIFA Interactive World Player of the Year. Players from all around the world will compete to take part in one of the eight showpiece events being held across Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australia. The winners of those events will then qualify to compete in the Final at FIFA House in Zurich and battle it out for the ultimate football gaming crown.

It also seems that you don't need to register and play online to compete in Sydney. You can just show up and play in qualifying matches in the morning. And yes, I said Sydney. Me and a friend are thinking of taking a trip down there to take a look around and play a bit of FIFA.

That would be wicked. I got 2005 on the weekend and have been giving the career mode a good thrashing. Love all the manager type stuff you can do.

And that god they got rid of that off the ball s*** - the ball tricks are much nicer to use.

Dont hesistate to shoot me a copy my way.

Soccah rox.

I read this somewhere else, but for what it's worth, on the xbox front, C&VG recon Pro Evolution Soccer 4 is a s***load better than FIFA2005.

By a cruel stroke of fate, the review copy of FIFA 2005 dropped on my doormat on the very same day as an early copy of Pro Evolution Soccer 4. Guess which one I've been playing the most? The one I'm being paid to, naturally, as beyond all else, I am a professional. Not that it makes an iota of difference. Anyone who can distinguish between s*** and treacle knows that Pro Evolution Soccer 4 is by far the superior game, yet FIFA continues to outsell it by the bucketful - thanks largely to official licences and a marketing budget that could buy Rooney.

Here's a preview on GamePlanet

yeah the pes/winning eleven series has always outshone the fifa series in terms of gameplay. Just that fifa is more well known. tho fifa2005 is pretty good compared to previous fifa games but they are only now putting in features that were in the pes/we series ages ago.

the off the ball is still in fifa2005, they just refined it a little.

I palyed pro evolution the other night, didn't think too much of it. Felt it was a bit too cartoony.