J.League Jikkyou Winning Eleven '98-'99 FAQ

Version Final Update - Jan.11, 2006
Author: deepbluec2040
From: Malaysia
Email: deepbluec2040<nospam>@yahoo.com
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            You may electronically reproduce and distribute this FAQ on the 
            conditions that you do not use it for commercial purposes or modify 
            the contents. You must give me credit if you extract any parts of 
            the FAQ. For other purposes you must first get my consent as i do 
            not want people copying my information as if they researched it
            themselves.
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Game Information 

Name: J.League Jikkyou Winning Eleven '98-'99
Platform: Sony PlayStation, PS2(Playstation Compatible)
Publisher: Konami Computer Entertainment Sapporo, 1998 
Language: Japanese(Domestic version)
Players: 1-2
Analogue Support: Yes, but D-Pad deactivated
Memory Card Requirements: Minimum 1 Block
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Introduction

J.League Winning Eleven '98-'99 is the officially licensed action soccer game 
based on the second stage of the 1998 J.League season. It is the follow-up to 
J.league '97 and Winning Eleven 3. The series is well known for its smooth 
gameplay and simplicity of controls. I think it is by far the soccer game of 
its time and it was well ahead of its rivals such as FIFA 9x series in all 
aspects including player representation(compare the height and build),
loading time and of course its visuals. Today WE '98-'99 is a rare game and 
you can only find it in game auctions or import PSX stores.
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What's New

This is a comparison with its predecessor J.League Jikkyou Winning Eleven 
3(1997). Remember that Winning Eleven '98-'99 was developed by Konami Computer 
Entertainment Sapporo(KCEP) whereas the former was developed by Konami Computer 
Entertainment Tokyo(KCET). A third subsidiary KCEO of Osaka develops soccer 
games for Konami but with a totally different approach but let's leave that out 
of our discussion. To begin with please keep in mind that KCEP retain much of 
the basic design of Winning Eleven 3 retaining just about the same menus and 
visuals as well as most of the control inputs. The noted differences are:

1) Different commentator in Yu Manabe rather than Jon Kabira. In this aspect i 
   think WE took a step backwards because Mr.Manabe doesn't comment as 
   realisticly as Jon Kabira did during play. And for some strange reason 
   didn't use the player name recordings properly during actual play 
   (like pronoucing "Nakayama!" when he has the ball) despite having the names 
   called during match start when the starting XI where introduced.

2) 1 new team has been added to the J.League in 1998, the recently promoted 
   Consadole Sapporo(which could be the reason why KCEP was chosen to 
   undertake this project) thus expanding the J.League to 18 teams.

3) Jomo Cup added. This is one of the all-star competition that pits the 
   foreign stars(known as World Dreams) in the J.League against a team of 
   Japanese players(Known as Japan Dreams). 

4) And you can change the lineup of players in both the Jomo Cup and Tarami 
   All-Stars special matches by assigning your choice players from the 18 
   teams that participarted in J.league that year.

5) Better player movements and play dynamics. Compared with the loose ball 
   feel of WE3 you can  now dribble the ball more effectively. Also it is now 
   slightly harder to score goals because the goalies now respond more quickly 
   unlike the dummies of the previous version. It is now easier to met a cross 
   because the players now track the ball automatically. 

6) Video clips have been added to the opening and credit screens(viewable only 
   by finishing the league. 

7) New good taste music have been added to the all the screens and there is 
   a licensed song track at the credits screen.
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J.League Teams and Players

As mentioned earlier the game represents the 2nd Stage of the 1998 J.League 
season despite the title mentioning it as '98-'99. J.League's schedule is 
different from European football in that the season begins around April and 
ends around November. European football on the other hand begins in the middle 
of the year and ends in the middile of the following year. Started only in 
1994, the J.League has evolved over time expanding from just 10 teams to the 
18 in 1998. The 1998 J.League season was also the year in which relegation was 
introduced to the young league. The relegation/promotion system was pathetic 
at best requiring the bottom 4 teams and 1 from the JFL to a playoff. Because 
the Yokohama Flugels were disbanded that year one place was "created" thus 
only 1 team from JFL could be promoted provided that "2" team from the 
J.League was relegated. The teams that were involved were JEF United 
Ichihara(15th), Consadole Sapporo(16th), Vissel Kobe(17th) and Avispa 
Fukuoka(18th). In the end only Consadole was relegated with Kawasaki Frontale 
failing to win the playoff. So no teams were promoted while 2 teams, Flugels
and Consadole were out of the new 16 team J.League. 
 
In this game the clubs' roster are represented by the core group of players 
who took an active part in the second stage of the league. The game provides 
each team with its top 11 and 5 subs although in actual terms each team has a 
squad of about 30-40 players. Lets take a look at the teams and their players 
in the order of the team selection screen. "*" indicates the individual as a 
star/key player. I also updated the information such as nationality for 
the foreigners.

(Top Row L-R)      

Consadole Sapporo
Default Formation: 4-4-2A
Home Jersey: Red & black vertical striped shirt, black shorts and socks.
Away Jersey: White shirt and shorts with red trim, white socks.  

Consadole was the newly promoted team which won the JSL championship in 1997. 
This team comes from all the way from Hokkaido Island which is located at the 
tip of northern Japan. In order to spark support from fans the club signed Hugo 
Hernan Maradona and gave him the #10 shirt. While Hugo has the face and looks 
of his elder brother he never really had any of the ball skills. You will not 
see Maradona in the Consadole lineup for obvious reasons but you can catch a 
glimpse of him in the credits videoclip which is accessible everytime you 
finish the game in league mode. Although Consadole provided some good match 
performances during the season they struggled much of the time. Finishing in 
16th place they were required to participate in a complicated playoff with 
teams that occupied 15-18th position as well as a team from JFL. Losing to 
Vissel Kobe and Avispa Fukuoka in the playoffs they were relegated. It is 
interesting to note that Consadole had the only "foreign" goalie in J.League 
that year, Dutchman Dido Havenaar formerly of Den Haag, Grampus and Jubilo.

The lineup:

Starting
1.   GK Havenaar Dido - Naturalised Japanese citizen from the Netherlands
3.   DF Luiz Carlos "Pereira" - Brazil
4.   DF Satoshi Kajino
15.  DF Tatsuya Murata
2.   DF Ryuji Tabuchi
6.   MF Takamitsu Ohta
14.  DF Tsuyoshi Furukawa
8.   MF "Walter" Henrique De Oliveira* - Brazil
7.   MF Giichi Goto
9.   FW Jorge Valdes* - Panama
18.  FW Kota Yoshihara*
Subs
5.   DF Takashi Kiyama
19.  MF Taku Watanabe
17.  MF Hiromasa Suguri
13.  FW Tomotaka Fukagawa
12.  GK Ryuji Kato

Kashima Antlers
Default Formation: 4-4-2A
Home Jersey: Dark red shirt, shorts and socks.
Away Jersey: White shirt, shorts and socks.

The "deers" from Ibraki are one of the top teams that dominated the J.league 
since its inception in 1993. They won the championship for the first time in 
1996 by a large margin and almost won the title again in 1997. A large number 
of players in the Kashima Antlers lineup have played for the Japanese national 
team. The Antlers have a very strong Brazilian connection inspired by Zico who 
help them adopt a Brazilian style of play. Until this day most of the foreign 
players who played for the club are Brazilian. These include former Brazil 
national team players such as Jorginho and Bismarck. A fair number of Antlers 
came from the Honda Giken football club when the club decided not to join the 
J.league such as captain Yasuto Honda, Yoshiyuki Hasegawa and Hisashi Kurosaki. 
The Antlers also have a very powerful youth system and provides the rest of the 
league with many of its best players when these players cannot get a regular 
starting position. The Kashima Antlers went on to win both the J.League and 
Yamazaki Nabisco Cup in 1998 to emerge as one of the most succesful teams in 
J.League.

The lineup:

Starting
28.  GK Dajirio Takakuwa* 
4.   DF Ryosuke Okuno*
3.   DF Yutaka Akita*
7.   DF Naoki Soma*
22.  DF Akira Narahashi*
6.   MF Yasuto Honda
2.   MF "Jorginho" Jorge de Amorim Campos* - Brazil
10.  MF "Bismarck" Baretto Faria* - Brazil
14.  MF Tadatoshi Masuda
13.  FW Atsushi Yanagisawa*
8.   FW "Mazinho" Waldemar De Oliveira Filho* - Brazil
Subs
5.   DF Naruyuki Naito
18.  MF Koji Kumagai
9.   FW Takayuki Suzuki
24.  FW Masashi Motoyama
21.  GK Yohei Sato

JEF United Ichihara
Default Formation: 4-4-2C
Home Jersey: Yellow shirt, shorts and socks.
Away Jersey: White shirt, shorts and socks.

The football club of JR East Furukawa has always been one of the powerhouses of
the old JSL. JEF were never really a strong club to begin with and it only had 
a small fan base. Despite this JEF became famous due to the individual 
performances of players like former German International Piere Littbarsky and 
Yugoslav International Nenad Maslovar. JEF also had several players who made 
the national team such as World Cup coach Takashi Okada and more recently Shoji 
Jo and Eisuke Nakanishi. In 1998 JEF was one of the teams that was sucked 
into the relegation playoffs but they managed to stay clear for another year. 

The lineup:

Starting
1.   GK Kenichi Shimokawa 
30.  DF Matthew Bingley - Australia
5.   DF Satoshi Yamaguchi*
3.   DF Shinichi Muto
2.   DF Eisuke Nakanishi*
4.   MF Arnold Scholten* - Netherlands
11.  MF Atsuhiko Ejiri
10.  MF Nenad Maslovar* - Yugoslavia
8.   MF Yoshikazu Nonomura
16.  FW Nozomu Hiroyama
9.   FW Nobuhiro Takeda
Subs
14.  DF Kazuhiro Suzuki
15.  DF Takayuki Chano
6.   MF Tomoyuki Sakai
20.  FW Terumasa Kim
21.  GK Atsushi Shirai

Kashiwa Reysol
Default Formation: 4-3-3b
Home Jersey: Yellow shirt and socks, black shorts.
Away Jersey: Blue shirt and socks, white shorts.

Kashiwa Reysol is the football team of Hitachi and joined the J.League in 1995. 
Though not a particularly outstanding team Kashiwa Reysol did acquire the 
services of Akira Nishino who coached the Japanese 1996 Olympic team in 1997. 
Although Reysol had several national team players in its roster it lack quality 
players in several positions although the youngsters in the team were beginning 
to show promise. In 1998 Reysol had the 1994 World Cup topscorer Hristov 
Stoickov in their lineup although he was a just shade of his former glory. 
With their huge budget and high ambitions Reysol are a team to watch in the 
next few years.   

The lineup:

Starting
21.  GK Yuta Minami* 
14.  DF Shigenori Hagimura
4.   DF Takeshi Watanabe
18.  DF Tomohiro Katanosaka
2.   DF Kentaro Sawada*
17.  MF Tomokazu Myojin
5.   MF Takahiro Shimotaira*
11.  MF Nozomu Kato*
7.   FW "Betinho" Gilberto Carlos Nascimento* - Brazil
31.  FW Hristov Stoickov* - Bulgaria
12.  FW Naoki Sakai
Subs
27.  DF Takumi Morikawa
13.  MF Harutaka Ono
10.  FW Valdeci "Basilio" Da Silva - Brazil
19.  FW Hideaki Kitajima* 
1.   GK Yoichi Doi

Urawa Red Diamonds
Default Formation: 4-4-2c
Home Jersey: Red shirt, white shorts, black socks.
Away Jersey: White shirt & socks, black shorts.

The Urawa Reds is the club team of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and was one of 
the origninal 10 teams that founded the J.League in 1993. There are the 
wealthiest club in Japan and the huge number of fans that turnup for the team's 
matches are known as the Saitama Red Army. The Reds have a German style of 
play that was influence by players like Guido Buchwald and Uwe Bein, both of 
whom played for the German National team. Yet despite all the loyal fan support 
and money the club enjoyed they had always failed to live up to expectation 
ever since the formation of the J.League. In 1998 actually did somewhat better 
and finished in upper midtable.  

The lineup:

Starting
16.  GK Yuki Takita 
3.   DF Tsutomo Nishino
5.   DF Giuseppe Zappella* - Italy
22.  DF Shinji Jojo
2.   DF Nobuhisa Yamada*
6.   MF Zeljko Petrovic* - Yugoslavia 
10.  MF Yasushi Fukunaga
28.  MF Shinji Ono*
11.  MF Aitor Beguiristain Múgica* - Spain
7.   FW Masayuki Okano
9.   FW Masahiro Fukuda*
Subs
4.   DF Masaki Tsuchihashi
8.   MF Osamu Hirose
21.  MF Toshiya Ishii
13.  FW Kenji Oshiba
1.   GK Hisashi Tsuchida

Verdy Kawasaki
Default Formation: 4-4-2c
Home Jersey: Green, black and white shirt, black shorts, green socks.
Away Jersey: White, green and black shirt, green shorts, white socks.

Verdy is the former Yomiuri Club owned by the newspaper and media giant that 
dominated the JSL and the J.League in its early years with their awesome 
Brazilian style. Since the formation of the J.League Verdy have won 2 J.League 
titles(1993, 1994), 3 Nabisco Cups(1992, 1993, 1994) and the Emperor's Cup in 
1996. Verdy's lineup was packed with top stars including a large number of 
national team members in Ruy Ramos, Hashiratani and Kazu Miura. They paid the 
highest transfer fee in J.League history for Masakiyo Maezono when the later 
transfered from Yokohama Flugels. Yet the club began to suffer from heavy 
financial debt in 1996 and in 1998 had a disastrous 2nd stage where they 
finished 17th out of 18th. Its aging stars could no longer perform on a level 
that warrants their high salaries and become more like media icons. The former 
champions have 
never been the quite same.

The lineup:

Starting
1.   GK Shinkichi Kikuchi
4.   DF Kentaro Hayashi
5.   DF Tetsuji Hashiratani*
3.   DF "Henrique" Arlindo Etges - Brazil
6.   DF Tadashi Nakamura
2.   MF "Moacir" Rodrigues Dos Santos - Brazil
10.  MF Ruy Ramos* - Naturalised Japanese citizen from Brazil
8.   MF Tsuyoshi Kitazawa*
7.   MF Masakiyo Maezono*
11.  FW Kazuyoshi Miura*
18.  FW Takuya Takagi
Subs
25.  DF Tomo Sugawara
15.  DF Yasutoshi Miura*
13.  MF Nobuyuki Zaizen
30.  FW Mitsunori Yabuta 
19.  GK Kenji Honnami

Yokohama Marinos
Default Formation: 4-4-2c
Home Jersey: Blue shirt, white shorts, red socks.
Away Jersey: White shirt, blue shorts, white socks.

The Yokohama Marinos were formerly known as the club team of Nissan Motors and 
was a dominating force in the old JSL. While other clubs adopted Brazilian or 
German style of play the Marinos sailed for Argentina. The Marinos with Japan 
defenders Masami Ihara, Norio Omura and Akihiro Endo as well as Argentines 
Ramon Diaz, David Bisconti and Ramon Medinabello won their first J.League title 
by beating 2 time champions Verdy Kawasaki in 1995. After that the Argentinean 
camp retired and the Marinos had to rebuild. In 1998 the Marinos were quite 
competitive finishing 4th in both stages and ultimately merge with ailing 
cross-town Yokohama Flugels. The new team became known as Yokohama F-Marinos.

The lineup:

Starting
1.   GK Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi* 
4.   DF Masami Ihara*
5.   DF Norio Omura*
17.  DF Ryuji Michiki*
8.   DF Satoru Noda
6.   MF Yoshiharu Ueno
25.  MF Shunsuke Nakamura*
28.  MF Jon Andoni Goikoetxea Lasa* - Spain
10.  MF Julio Cesar Baldivieso* - Bolivia
7.   FW Julio Salinas* - Spain
9.   FW Shoji Jo*
Subs
3.   DF Takehito Suzuki 
14.  DF Naoki Matsuda*
11.  MF Fumitake Miura
29.  FW Satoru Yasunaga 
16.  GK Tatsuya Enomoto

Yokohama Flugels
Default Formation: 3-4-3c
Home Jersey: White shirt, shorts and socks.
Away Jersey: Darkblue shirt, shorts and socks.

The Flugels are a proud club and one of the most powerful in the J.League with 
2 Emperor's Cuptitles and a good consistent performance in the league. They got 
a strong fan support and some of the best national team players in their 
roster. In 1998 they had Brazilian midfielder Cesar Sampaio at the heart of 
midfield plus foreigners such as the Russian NT forward Lediakov and Portuguese 
star Futre. Yet for all their success the clubs corporate sponsors All Nippon 
Airways and Sato Koygo announced that they were disbanding the club on grounds 
of the high operation cost that the sponsors had to endure. The move resulted 
in a massive uproar from loyal fans who looted the stadium, breifly took over 
the offices of ANA and applied duct tape over the sponsor logo of jerseys and 
billboards.  As it is the Yokohama Flugels was merged with crosstown rivals 
Marinos hence the name Yokohama F-Marinos and many of the players just transfer 
either to Marinos or other clubs. But most Flugel fans choose not to support 
the Marinos and were granted concession by the JFA to form a new club at JFL 
level known as Yokohama FC.

The lineup:

Starting
1.   GK Seigo Narazaki* 
7.   DF Takeo Harada
3.   DF Norihiro Satsukawa*
13.  DF Koji Maeda
15.  MF Haruki Seto
6.   MF Atsuhiro Miura*
5.   MF Motohiro Yamaguchi*
10.  MF Hideki Nagai*
30.  FW Igor Lediakov* - Russia
31.  FW "Futre" Paolo Jorge Santos - Portugal
2.   FW Kazuki Sato
Subs
14.  DF Shoji Nonoshita
27.  DF Yasuhito Endo*
9.   FW Takayuki Yoshida
12.  FW Yasuhiro Hato 
16.  GK Hiroshi Sato

Bellmare Hiratsuka
Default Formation: 4-4-2a
Home Jersey: Green shirt with vertical blue stripes, blue shorts, green socks.
Away Jersey: White shirt, socks and shorts.

Bellmare was formerly known as the football club of Fujita Industries and there 
are based just outside Tokyo. The club is a successful team and one of the 
founding memebers of the J.League. Among their best known players were Japan's 
Hidetoshi Nakata and Korean NT defender Hong Kyung-Bo. Nakata left the team 
after the worldcup but in truth Bellmare were unable to meet his salary. 
Eventually Bellmare sold all of its top stars and decline into one of 
the weakest clubs in J.League that year.

The lineup:

Starting
1.   GK Nobuyuki Kojima* 
18.  DF Takashi Miki
8.   DF Yoshihiro Natsuka
6.   DF Hiroaki Kumon
2.   DF Hinonari Iwamoto
20.  MF Hong Myung-Bo* - South Korea
5.   MF Kazuaki Tasaka*
11.  MF "Ricardinho" Ricardo Sousa Silva* - Brazil
29.  MF Pavel Badea* - Romania
19.  FW Daisuke Tonoike
10.  FW Wagner Augusto Lopes* - Naturalised Japanese NT player from Brazil
Subs
3.   DF Satoshi Tsunami
22.  DF Takuya Kawaguchi
15.  MF Teppei Nishiyama
17.  MF Tomoaki Matsukawa 
16.  GK Makoto Kakegawa

(Bottom Row L-R)   

Shimizu S-Pulse
Default Formation: 3-5-2b
Home Jersey: Orange shirt, shorts & socks.
Away Jersey: White shirt, shorts & socks.

S-Pulse is a relatively new team founded in 1989 although Shimizu and Shizuoka 
as a whole produced many of the league and Japan's best players. The club had 
some decent performancesand won the Nabisco Cup in 1996 yet never really got 
to win any other trophies. The S-Pulseroster is filled with many past and 
present national teams members like Masaaki Sawanobori, Toshihide Saito and 
Takumi Horiike. This is a team to watch in the future.

The lineup:

Starting
1.   GK Masanori Sanada* 
11.  DF Ryuzo Morioka*
19.  DF Junji Nishizawa
2.   DF Toshihide Saito*
6.   MF Katsumi Oenoki
14.  MF Kazuyuki Toda
3.   MF Masahiro Ando
17.  MF "Alex" Dos Santos - Brazil
7.   MF Teruyoshi Ito*
8.   FW Fernando Nicolas "Oliva" - Brazil
12.  FW Masaaki Sawanobori*
Subs
25.  DF Daisuke Ichikawa
26.  MF Kohei Hiramatsu
9.   FW Kenta Hasegawa*
12.  FW "Fabinho" Fabio Augusto Justino - Brazil
16.  GK Koji Nakahara

Jubilo Iwata
Default Formation: 3-5-2b
Home Jersey: Dark and light blue shirt and socks, white shorts.
Away Jersey: White shirt and socks, blue shorts.

Jubilo Iwata is the other club from Shizuoka Prefecture and formerly known as 
Yamaha FC. Jubilo join the J.League in its second year producing mostly 
midtable performances until 1995 when Brazilian captain Carlos Dunga was 
brought in by coach Hans Ooft to transform the team into one of the most 
powerful sides in J.League till this day. Jubilo won the J.League in 1997 and 
were the runners-up in the Nabisco Cup. The teams top players comprise many 
national team caps including "Gon" Nakayama, Toshiya Fujita, Toshihiro Hattori 
and Hiroshi Nanami. Nakayama in particular scored hattricks in 4 consercutive 
matches in 1998 to win the top scorer award. Unfortunately Jubilo failed to 
retain their J.League crown after losing in the playoff to Kashima Antlers. 
Despite this Jubilo and Kashima for that matter have set the standard for 
which the J.League is played today.

The lineup:

Starting
12.  GK Tomoaki Ogami 
4.   DF "Adilson" Dias Batista* - Brazil
2.   DF Hideto Suzuki
5.   DF Makoto Tanaka
8.   MF "Dunga" Carlos Caetono Bledorn Verri* - Brazil
6.   MF Toshihiro Hattori*
29.  MF Daisuke Oku
7.   MF Hiroshi Nanami*
10.  MF Toshiya Fujita*
9.   FW Masashi "Gon" Nakayama*
19.  FW Naohiro Takahara*
Subs
14.  DF Takahiro Yamanishi
23.  MF Takashi Fukunishi*
18.  MF Norihisa Shimizu
13.  FW Nobuo Kawaguchi 
1.   GK Yushi Ozaki

Nagoya Grampus Eight
Default Formation: 4-4-2c
Home Jersey: Orange and red shirt, black shorts, red socks.
Away Jersey: White shirt, shorts and socks.

Grampus Eight is formerly known as the football team of Toyota Motors and was 
one of the founding members of the J.League. In its first two years the team 
was one of the bottom dwellers but in 1995 with Arsene Wenger and former 
England striker Gary Linekar the team finished in the top of table including 
2nd in 1996. In following years the team still had some of the best players in 
the League including Dragan Stojkovic, Takashi Hirano and Shigeyoshi Mochizuki. 
In 1998 Grampus finished 3rd and 6th in the 1st and 2nd stages respectively. 
They looked like future title contenders.

The lineup:

Starting
1.   GK Yuji Ito
3.   DF Go Oiwa*
5.   DF Carlos Alexandre "Torres" - Brazil
27.  DF Yusuke Nakatani
31.  DF Ko Ishikawa*
8.   MF Tetsuya Asano
11.  MF Takashi Hirano*
9.   MF Shigeyoshi Mochizuki*
7.   MF Tarik Oulida
19.  FW Takafumi Ogura
10.  FW Dragan Stojkovic* - Yugoslavia
Subs
14.  DF Masahiro Koga
25.  DF Masayuki Omori
21.  MF Tetsuya Okayama
18.  FW Kenji Fukuda *
16.  GK Kazumasa Kawano

Kyoto Purple Sanga
Default Formation: 4-4-2c
Home Jersey: Purple shirt, shorts and socks.
Away Jersey: Yellow shirt and socks, black shorts.

The Purple Sanga was originally a university club team of Kyoto Teacher's U. 
They join the J.League in 1996 finishing 6th but has struggled ever since due 
to its extremely poor support. Lack of fan support meant the club didn't have 
enough money to attract top players. The club's performance were no better 
finishing at the bottom in 1997. Having a few talented local and foreign 
players that it heavily relied upon Sanga avoided relegation in 1998.

The lineup:

Starting
1.   GK Shigetatsu Matsunaga 
4.   DF Naoto Otake*
5.   DF Alicilio Pinto Silva Junior "Junior Maranhao" - Brazil
2.   DF Hiroshi Noguchi
14.  DF Masaki Ogawa
7.   MF Hajime Moriyasu*
6.   MF Teruo Iwamoto*
8.   MF Takahiro Yamada
10.  MF Paolo "Silas" do Prado Pereira - Brazil
9.   FW Hisashi Kurosaki*
15.  FW "Edmilson" Matias* - Brazil
Subs
13.  DF Shinsuke Shiotani
20.  DF Tajirio Kurita
29.  MF Hiroyasu Kawakatsu
22.  FW Shinya Mitsuoka 
21.  GK Masahiko Nakagawa 

Gamba Osaka
Default Formation: 3-5-2b
Home Jersey: Vertically striped blue black shirt, black shorts & socks.
Away Jersey: White shirt & socks, blue shorts.

Gamba Osaka is the former Matsushita Electric club team that was successful in 
the JSL back in the 80's. They were among the founding members of the J.League. 
Yet Gamba didn't perform particularly well in the early years of the J.League 
finishing near bottom. But in 1997 Gamba signed Cameroon forward Patrick Mboma 
whose scoring skills won him the golden boot and gave Gamba a new level of 
performance. Despite that the young players at Gamba weren't ready yet and 
Gamba return to the lower level after his departure. In 1998 Gamba finished 
14th and 16th and were lucky not to get sucked into the relegation battle. 
But Gamba's youngster have shown promise particularly Junichi Inamoto, 
Tsuneyasu Miyamoto and Hiromi Kojima. But it will take a few more years before 
the club can challenge the title. 

The lineup:

Starting
1.   GK Hayato Okanaka*
5.   DF Claude Dambury* - France
15.  DF Masao Kiba
4.   DF Noritada Saneyoshi
20.  MF Tsuneyasu Miyamoto*
7.   MF Naoki Hiraoka
21.  MF Hitoshi Morishita
10.  MF Nebosja Krupnikovic* - Yugoslavia
6.   MF Junichi Inamoto*
9.   FW Anto Drobnjak* - Yugoslavia
13.  FW Hiromi Kojima
Subs
3.   DF Daisuke Saito
16.  DF Daiju Matsumoto
11.  FW Masanobu Matsunami
29.  FW Ryuji Bando
12.  GK Ryota Tsuzuki

Cerezo Osaka
Default Formation: 3-5-2a
Home Jersey: Vertically striped pink and blue shirt, blue shorts & socks.
Away Jersey: White shirt, socks & shorts.

Cerezo Osaka was previously known as the club team of Yanmar Diesel that won 
several titles in the old JSL back in the 70's and early 80's. The club joined 
the J.League in 1995 but failed to produce any title winning chances being 
mostly a lower midtable team. In 1998 they finished 9th and 13th. Despite 
having some top players in their roster Cerezo will need to get several more
to fill key positions before they can compete for any titles. 

The lineup:

Starting
1.   GK Seigo Shimokawa*
3.   DF Hiroyuki Inagaki
6.   DF Shigeki Kurata
19.  DF Kazuo Shimizu
28.  MF Satoru Suzuki
32.  MF Akira Kaji
17.  MF Ha Seok-Ju* - South Korea
29.  MF "Pintado" Luiz Carlos de Oliveira Preto - Brazil
8.   MF Hiroaki Morishima*
9.   FW Manic Radivoje - Yugoslavia
10.  FW Akinori Nishizawa*
Subs
15.  DF Toshinobu Katsuya
16.  MF Kasutoshi Domori
18.  MF Taro Urabe
12.  FW Takayuki Yokoyama 
21.  GK Jiro Takeda

Vissel Kobe
Default Formation: 4-4-2a
Home Jersey: Vertically striped black & white shirt, black shorts, white 
             socks.
Away Jersey: Vertically striped pale green & white shirt, white shorts, 
             pale green socks.

Vissel Kobe is the newest team to join the J.League then but found themselves 
struggling at the bottom half of the league. The club can be traced back as the 
club team of Ito Ham, not a particularly well known team in the JSL. Although 
Vissel Kobe is not an impressive team they can still mount an occasional upset 
on the stronger clubs. Vissel also has a Korean contigent made up of 
internationals to help bolster its lineup. This and its hard working  attitude 
help the club in avoiding relegation during the 1998 season.

The lineup:

Starting
31.  GK Nobuhiro Maeda 
18.  DF Keiji Kaimoto*
4.   DF Albert "Tomas" Sobrepera* - Spain
3.   DF Megumu Yoshida
8.   DF Takanori Nunobe
22.  MF Koji Yoshimura*
5.   MF Ryuji Kubota
11.  MF Takuya Jinno
10.  MF Shigeyoshi Hasebe*
13.  FW Akihiro Nagashima*
9.   FW Kim Do-Hoon* - South Jorea
Subs
19.  DF Kazuyoshi Mikami
6.   MF Yuta Abe
14.  FW Tomoji Eguchi
17.  FW Mitsutoshi Watada 
1.   GK Ryuji Ishizue

Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Default Formation: 3-5-2b
Home Jersey: Purple shirt, shorts & socks.
Away Jersey: White shirt, shorts & socks.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima traced its history back to the club team of Mazda Motors 
and was also one of the original 10 tens that started the J.League. Sanfrecce 
has a great season in 1993 and won 1994 J.League 1st Stage yet failed to win 
the J.League title against the Brazilian style Verdy Kawasaki. After Stewart 
Baxter was replaced by Eddie Thompson in 1995 the club became a midtable 
dweller ever since and play a boring defensive minded game with the occasional 
counterattack. They finished 1998 in 13th and 9th position.

The lineup:

Starting
1.   GK Kazuya Maekawa 
18.  DF Tony Popovic - Australia
19.  DF Kenichi Uemura*
5.   DF Tetsuya Ito
4.   MF Hiroyoshi Kuwabara
17.  MF Kota Hattori
3.   MF Hiroshige Yanagimoto*
37.  MF Takayuki Yamaguchi
7.   MF Tony Vidmar - Australia
10.  FW Tatsuhiko Kubo*
9.   FW Donald Ralph Goodman - England
Subs
2.   DF Hiroshi Miyazawa
8.   MF Yasuhiro Yoshida
14.  FW Katsuhiro Minamoto
6.   MF Mitsuaki Kojima
16.  GK Takashi Shimoda*

Avispa Fukuoka
Default Formation: 3-5-2b
Home Jersey: Vertically striped white and blue shirt, blue shorts, white socks.
Away Jersey: Palegreen shirt, white shorts, palegreen socks.

Avispa Fukuoka actually came from Shizuoka as the Chuo Bouhan Soccer Club in 
the old JSL. In 1994 they moved to Fukuoka because of the large numbers of 
clubs in Shizuoka and changed their name to Fukuoka Brooks. After they won the 
JFL in 1995 they were promoted to J.League and renamed Avispa Fukuoka. Yet they 
have struggled right at the bottom since and recorded the highest tally for 
yellow and red cards in past years. In 1998 they finished 18th and 15th but 
narrowly escaped relegation to fight another day. Truely the weakest of the 
J.League teams.  

The lineup:

Starting
1.   GK Hideki Tsukamoto 
10.  DF Juan Carlos "Villamayor" Medina* - Paraguay 
2.   DF Hideaki Mori
4.   DF Atsuhiro Iwai
5.   MF "Fernando" Henrique Mariano* - Brazil
24.  MF Tatsunori Hisanaga
18.  MF Chikara Fujimoto*
8.   MF Kiyotaka Ishimaru
11.  MF Yusaku Ueno*
29.  FW Dragan Dukanovic* - Yugoslavia 
14.  FW Yoshiteru Yamashita
Subs
3.   DF Yoshinori Furube
27.  DF Yuji Yokoyama
25.  MF Yuji Okuma
20.  MF Kentaro Sakai
16.  GK Tomoaki Sano


I hope it is useful to you when you need to make decisions on which team to 
play. Personally i prefer using Gamba Osaka, Jubilo Iwata or JEF United 
Ichihara because my favourite players are there although i tried out just 
about every team for fun.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Screens & Menus

This section is to enable you to navigate each page and learn the functions 
which is particularly important if you don't understand Japanese. To begin

After the game has been loaded the movie clips will play. If you want to skip 
it you just press the either the "start" or "circle" button. You will reach 
the title screen. Press the "start" button again to go to the mode selection 
screen.

1) Mode Selection

Before i go any further please be reminded that making a selection on any 
screen requires the press of the "circle" button and not the "x" button. This 
is common practice among games published for the domestic in Japan. The "x" 
button on the other the hand is used for cancelling or going back to a 
previous screen.

At the mode selection screen you see a menu with options ranging in the 
descending order as Exhibition, J.League, Cup Mode, Special Match, P.K, 
Training and Option.

I will now explain the menu options one at a time in detail.

1a) Exhibition

This is the place where you can mix and match and find the team which suites 
you best. Basically a single match mode which can be played by up to 2 human 
players. Selection of this option will first bring you to the user/controller 
screen where you can choose from:

1P vs CPU : This mode is mostly for practice and trying out tactics against 
            competent CPU opponents.

1P vs 2P: Self-explanatory.

1.2P vs CPU: Team up with your friend against the CPU

1P.CPU vs CPU: Team up with the CPU and do half of the work. You might like or 
               hate the relation-ship.

CPU vs CPU: This mode is for your own entertainment where you be the audience.

Whichever choice you make you will be brought to the Team Select screen. Here 
is the order again:

Top(L-R): Consadole Sapporo, Kashima Antlers, JEF United Ichihara, Kashiwa 
          Reysol, Urawa Red Diamonds, Verdy Kawasaki, Yokohama Marinos, 
          Yokohama Flugels, Bellmare Hiratsuka

Bottom(L-R): Shimizu S-Pulse, Jubilo Iwata, Nagoya Grampus Eight, Kyoto 
             Purple Sanga, Gamba Osaka, Cerezo Osaka, Vissel Kobe, Sanfrecce 
             Hiroshima, Avispa Fukuoka

After you have made your choices you will go to the match settings screen 
which provides you with the following options:

Environment: Day/Clear Day/Rain Night/Clear Night/Rain 
Match Lenght: 5, 10 or 15 Minutes
CPU Rating: 1-5, 3 by default. Note: You need to remember the characters 
            somehow so that you don't get confused when you change the 
            difficulty in the J.League mode for example. This is important if 
            you can't read Japanese.
Home/Away: 1P/CPU | CPU/1P(Self explanatory)
Stadium: A-E(5 choices)

I will explain the in-game screens later.

1b) J.League

This is the championship mode where you get to play an entire season of the 
1998 J.League. If you select this option you will be brought to a screen which 
indicates 

New Game - Start a new season or
Continue - Load a previously saved game; if you have any files just highlight 
           the file and press the "circle" and "start" button. Else press 
           the "x" button to cancel.

If you selected New Game you will be brought to the controller screen where 
you can set either

1P vs CPU : Single player mode 

1.2P vs CPU: Team up with your friend against the CPU

1P.CPU vs CPU: Team up with the CPU and do half of the work. You might like or 
               hate the relation-ship.

Next comes the screen where you set the CPU rating(1-5, 3 by default) and 
match length(5, 10 or 15 minutes).

Following the menu where you can set the season length to either half season 
or full season. If you choose to play the full season there are 2 stages with 
34 matches. And if you only win one of the stages you need to play a Suntory 
Championship decider over 2 legs.

Then press either "circle" to confirm or "x" to change your settings.

Once you confirm your choices you are brought to the team selection screen 

Top(L-R): Consadole Sapporo, Kashima Antlers, JEF United Ichihara, Kashiwa 
          Reysol, Urawa Red Diamonds, Verdy Kawasaki, Yokohama Marinos, 
          Yokohama Flugels, Bellmare Hiratsuka

Bottom(L-R): Shimizu S-Pulse, Jubilo Iwata, Nagoya Grampus Eight, Kyoto 
             Purple Sanga, Gamba Osaka, Cerezo Osaka, Vissel Kobe, 
             Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Avispa Fukuoka

Once you have made your choice the league will start and you begin in the 
upcoming match screen where you can see all matches to be played in this case 
the first stage section 1.

Press "cicle" and you will start the match. I will explain how to play the 
game later in this FAQ. 

Upon finishing the match you will be brought to the post match screen where 
you can see the results of all matches played in the previous round.

Press circle again and you will see the league table showing the standings 
of all the teams participating. The information which is in Japanese is as 
follows:

(L-R)

Points: 3 pts for a win in regulation time, 2 pts for a win in extra time, 
        1 pts for a win in the penalty shoot-out.

Games Won: Indicates how many games your team had won overall.

90 Win: # of games won in regulation time.

ET Win: # of games won in extra time (sudden death).

PK Win: # of games won in a penalty shoot-out.

Loss: # of games which your team lost.

F: # of goals your team had scored.

A: # of goals your team had concedded.

Y: # of yellow cards your team had collected.

R: # of red cards your team had collected. 

Your team is highlighted in pink. You can browse the table with the "up" and 
"down" arrow key.

The next screen is shows the league performance in linegraph format. Over the 
season teams will go up and down the table and this is your reference to that. 
Press the "L1" and "R1" to see each individual team.

Press "circle" again to go to the next screen which shows the form of the 
teams. The cirle indicates a win, triangle a draw and X a loss.

Following this screen is the Team vs Team comparisons. As before the cirle 
indicates a win, triangle a draw and X a loss.

Press "circle" to go to the scoring leaders chart. It shows the name of the 
player, goals scored, shots taken and conversion percentage.

Again "circle" will bring a menu which has 3 options:

First Option brings up the memory card utility. You can save, delete and 
cancel. To save just highlight an empty slot(or one to overwrite) and press 
"circle" and "start".

The "triangle" represents deletion of a file from the slot and "x" just exits 
the utility.

Second option brings you to the next match...starting with the upcoming 
fixtures screen and so on.

The third option exits you from the J.League. Make sure that you have save 
your file before you choose this option.

Well..that sums up the J.League part.

1c) Cup Mode

You can play in the Yamazaki Nabisco Cup, Konami Cup or several fictitious 
regional cups. When selected you will go through the familiar menus:

New Game - Start a new season or
Continue - Load a previously saved game; if you have any files just highlight 
           the file and press the "circle" and "start" button. Else press the 
           "x" button to cancel.

The next screen shows you a choice of several different cup competitions.
There are the(U-D): Yamazaki Nabisco Cup, Konami Cup, Mercury Cup, Venus Cup, 
Mars Cup, Jupiter Cup and Neptune Cup.

As some of the cups allow for different options i will go through them 
beginning with the Yamazaki Nabisco Cup.

Upon selection you will see the screen to set the CPU level and match length. 
Next is the option to set the # of teams you wanna control.

The next screen is the where you assign the teams and groups. There are several 
ways to achieve this.

Press the "triangle" to automatically choose teams at random.

Or you can place them manually but they must go in order of Group A, B, C and 
D. And if you want to  assign the CPU teams you must press the "L1" or "R1" in 
conjunction with the "circle". Take note that groups A & B has 5 teams each 
where you must play 4 matches whereas groups C & D has 4 teams where you play 
3 matches.

To view the groups you can browse by pressing the "square" and "up" or "down" 
arrows.

Once you completed this process you will be given another options menu. 

Pressing "triangle" twice will empty all the teams and groups.

Pressing "circle" confirms selection and starts the competetion.

Pressing "x" allows you to make changes to an individual team in any group. 
You must press the "x" on the highlighted team to deselect and choose another.


When you start the Nabisco Cup you will first be brought to the group table 
screen. Pressing "circle" starts the first match of which i will explain 
instructions on how to play the game later in this faq. Upon completion you 
will be returned to the group tables and given the usual option to save, 
proceed or exit the game. Once you have completed(and qualified im 2nd or 
better)the group stages you will be allowed to proceed to the knockout stage. 
The rest is all the same.

Now to cover the Konami Cup fully customable and a fictitious cup as well.

After the now very familiar CPU level and match length options you will see 
a screen that allows you to choose the # of team participating, format
(either knockout or round-robin)and the home/away system(not applicable if 
round-robin format is selected).

Finally you will get to choose the # of teams to control and which teams to 
participate in your custom tournament. That's all for Konami Cup all other 
things being similiar.


The regional cups don't offer much to customise and is mainly for you to try 
out some of the other teams. The main difference among the various regional 
cups is that you can only use teams from that area for example Kansai Area 
allows only Gamba, Cerezo, Vissel and Sanga.

Mercury Cup: JEF United Ichihara, Kashima Antlers, Urawa Reds, Consadole 
             Sapporo, Kashiwa Reysol
Venus Cup: Yokohama Marinos, Yokohama Flugels, Verdy kawasaki, Bellmare 
           Hiratsuka
Mars Cup: Jubilo Iwata, Shimizu S-Pulse, Nagoya Grampus Eight
Jupiter Cup: Kyoto Purple Sanga, Gamba Osaka, Cerezo Osaka, Vissel Kobe
Neptune Cup: Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Avispa Fukuoka

If you like to lenghten the competition you can always select the home/away 
system.

1d) Special Match

This is where you can pit customise squads of your favourtie players against 
each other. 2 types of special matces are available. After the usual player 
controller option(1P vs CPU .etc) you see ALL STAR and JOMO CUP.

ALL STAR is the refering to the Tarami("Energy") All Star Soccer match. The 
event is usually held between the first and second stages. The teams are 
selected by dividing the J.League clubs into J-East and J-West. To maintain 
balance the JFA will decide which teams represent East and West respectively 
due to the changing nature of the league. Players and managers are selected 
via a fan ballot.

The following is the makeup of teams for the 1998 All Star Match:

J-East : Consadole Sapporo, Kashima Antlers, JEF United Ichihara, Kashiwa 
         Reysol, Urawa Red Diamonds, Verdy Kawasaki, Yokohama Marinos, 
         Yokohama Flugels, Bellmare Hiratsuka

J-West : Shimizu S-Pulse, Jubilo Iwata, Nagoya Grampus Eight, Kyoto Purple 
         Sanga, Gamba Osaka, Cerezo Osaka, Vissel Kobe, Sanfrecce Hiroshima, 
         Avispa Fukuoka

When you select All Stars you will see a 3 option menu. The first option is to 
start the match with the default players. The second and third option allows 
you to assign players to each side.

JOMO Cup is an event pitting a team of Japanese players(Japan Dreams) against 
a team of foreigners(World Dreams). Japan Dreams is literally the Japan 
National Team without its overseas based players while the World Dreams 
comprise the "gaijin" who play in the J.League as well as some invited 
well-known players.

When you select JOMO Cup you will see a 3 option menu. The first option is to 
start the match with the default players. The second and third option allows 
you to assign players to each side. You may press "L1" or "R1" to switch 
between East and West Region clubs.

 
1e) PK

If you are feeling the need to be challenged in a shootout this is the right 
place. You can choose from:

1P vs CPU : This mode is mostly for practice and trying out tactics against 
            competent CPU opponents.

1P vs 2P: Self-explanatory.

1.2P vs CPU: Team up with your friend against the CPU

1P.CPU vs CPU: Team up with the CPU and do half of the work. You might like or 
               hate the relation-ship.

CPU vs CPU: This mode is for your own entertainment where you be the audience.

Next select team. More on how to play later.

1f) Training

This is the place where newbies can learn the moves and get a feel of the game 
although the real training is really the exhibition mode.

3 training sets are provided:

Free training - Just your 11 players on the field without any opponents. You 
                can do anything you like.

FK(Manual or Auto) - Practice your set piece skills here. Try out different 
                     players when taking freekicks and penalty kicks to find 
                     out how they perform. Auto will randomise the position of 
                     the set piece.

CK(Left or Right) - The ball is always placed on your specified corner to 
                    practice ball delivery and conversion.

1P Paused

This menu is slightly different from the regular menu so i will just go 
through it quickly...

Continue
Training Set
Squad - The players in your starting eleven for this training session.
Camera Position 
Game Speed
Sound
Exit - Return to the Mode Select Screen.

1g) Option

Here you can adjust several features related to the game.

Exit - Do i have to explain this one ?

(L T-B)

Memory Card Utility - As mention earlier the place where you can manage your 
                      file storage. Take note that WE requires whopping 1 block 
                      for every save. This is perhaps the one greatest weaknest 
                      of the game. But due to the lack of data compression your 
                      files load a hell lot quicker which gives WE the great 
                      smooth play that other soccer games lack.

Controller Configuration -  I doubt if you ever need to touch this area. This 
                            menu is Japanese only. To change just highlight a 
                            button and swap it with another.

Screen Align - Line up the game to fit your screen. I personally never use this 
               option as my NTSC tv set had no problems with it.

(R T-B)

Dual Shock - Toggles the vibrating function on and off. Requires a dual shock 
             capable controller.

Sound - Adjust the various sound options. As this area is in english you will 
        find it mostly self-explanatory.

Wide Screen Support - Switches the wide screen tv support on and off. Obviously 
                      if you don't have a widescreen tv selection of this 
                      option will make your players appear like tall skinny 
                      freaks.


2) Match Game Menus

This section talks more about the menus that appear when a match is played.

2a) Opening Menu - The one you see when you after a match is loaded.

    Start Game - Begin Kick-off (you can also just press "start")

    Formation Edit - More on this one later

    Dual Shock - Toggles the vibrating function on and off. Requires a dual 
                 shock capable controller.

    Sound - Alright i will give more details later.

    Exit Game - Quit the match and return to the Mode Select Screen.

2b) Paused Game Menu - The one that appears when you paused a match in 
                       progress. Basically an extended version of the opening 
                       menu. 

    Resume Game - Continue where you left

    Formation Edit - More on this one later

    Dual Shock - Toggles the vibrating function on and off. Requires a dual 
                 shock capable controller.

    Visual Aide - More on this later
    
    Camera - Choose from a variety of different camera angles.
    
    Gamespeed - Change the pace of the game to suit your taste.
    
    Sound - Alright i will give more details later.

    Exit Game - Quit the match and return to the Mode Select Screen.

2c) Visual Aid - Basically the option allows you to declutter the screen if 
                  you find the info unneccesary.

    Radar - Toggles between Up, Down or Off

    Player Name - Toggles the player/priority bias bar on and off

    Time - Toggles the timekeeping clock on and off.

    Point - Toggles the scoreline indicator on and off.

    Strategy - When the strategy are used you will see "L2" and/or "R2" icons. 
               This option hides them.

2d) Sound - All the FX in the game.

    Effect - Everything from the sound of the ball to the yelling of the crowd. 
             Atmosphere stuff here.

    Music - Controls the volume of all the game's music including the goal 
            replays.

    Commentator - Do i need to explain this ?:p

    Real Condition -  Toggle on and off. I think this is used to off the 
                      commentator in one quick action. Handy if you don't want 
                      to hear Japanese.

    Stereo/Mono - Switch according to what sound system you have.

2e) Formation Edit -  This part may take a little while to explain.

    If you are hoping to succeed at any level higher than normal no doubt you 
    will always need to tinker around with your team's formation and strategy 
    and this is the screen to do it.

    You should be able to see the names of the players in Japanese. Press 
    "right" or "left" to quickly toggle between the starting eleven and the 
    subs bench.

    Have you ever wondered what does coloured faces actually mean ?
    Actually those are the indicators of form and morale. It has little to do 
    with fatigue as mention in many FAQs. These things have some affect on the 
    performance of the individual players such as ball skills, goal scoring and 
    passing. Unfortunately for Winning Eleven J.League '98-'99, the small squad 
    of just 11+5 gives you little choice but to use the same out of form 
    players. Anyway just for vanity's sack here are what the faces indicate:

    Grey/Sad: Rock Bottom, Very poor form
    Blue/Sad: Poor form
    Yellow/Smile: Good form, Normal
    Orange/Shouting: Excellent form, Ready to take on anyone
    Red/Shouting & Rolling: Ultimate form

    If you team is awarded with a set piece then a football icon will appear 
    over the player's name and coloured face. You can change the set piece 
    taker by just pressing the "circle" and replacing with another name with </pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
    the same action.

    On top with a "3" noted is the # of substitutions you have remaining. You 
    are allowed to make up to 3 changes in a match and this figure will reduce 
    accordingly as you start to empty your bench. To make a change or 
    substitution just highlight the name of the player and press "cicle", then 
    highlight the sub and press "circle" again.
    
    Next you see the graphical representation of your team's formation and 
    defensive line. You can change the team's formation by pressing the "L1" 
    and  "R1" buttons. You can choose the following preset formations:

    4-4-2A, 4-4-2B, 4-4-2C, 4-4-2D, 4-3-3A, 4-3-3B, 3-4-3A, 3-4-3B, 3-4-3C, 
    3-4-3D, 3-5-2A, 3-5-2B, 3-5-2C, 4-5-1A, 4-5-1B, 4-5-1C, 3-6-1A, 3-6-1B

    For newbies the first figure indicates the # of players playing defence 
    followed by midfielders and forwards respectively. More on formations 
    later.

    Another feature is the ability to change to defensive line. Do this by 
    pressing the "square" button. You can see the graphical display changing 
    everytime you press this button. You can choose between the flat, libero or 
    sweeper system. More on this later.

    The cursor change feature refers to the switching of players controlled 
    when in the game. Setting it to auto will make the CPU to this for you by 
    selecting the player nearest to the ball although you could overwrite by 
    pressing the "L1" button. Setting it to manual requires you to press "L1" 
    all the time.

    Since the player information is also in Japanese i will explain what they 
    mean. By highlighting a name you can see a player is rated based on:
    
    (T-B)
    
     Stamina - In this game at least it is the strength of the player to hold 
               off challenge from an opponent. 
     
     Speed -  The speed and pace that the player has when running with the 
              ball.
     
     Kick -  The player's shot power and accuracy.
     
     Pass - The passing accuracy of the player including cross and lobs.
    
     Curve - The amount of ballspin the player can add when he kicks the ball.
     
     Jump - The ability of the player to rise into the air to head the ball.
     
     Foot - Indicates whether a player is left or right footed. Has anyone 
            noticed a player who is natural with both feet ? :D 


Now to access the strategy setup press the "select" button to call up the 
strategy menu. You can swith back and forth using this button. You can have up 
to 2 strategies at any time. Just press the "R2" or "L2" buttons  to select 
any of the eight available. During the match you just press "R2" or "L2" at any 
time to activate the strategy set. You can tell the team is following your 
preset strategy when small icons appear next to the player's name.

The strategies available are from top to bottom:

Normal, Center Attack, Right Side Attack, Left Side Attack, Center Back 
Overlap, Zone Press, Counterattack and Offside Trap.

More Information on this later in the FAQ.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Playing the Game

This section will introduce the moves in the game as archieve using the 
Playstation standard controller. You can also use the Analogue controller but 
the "D-Pad" is then substituted and cannot be use.

Basic Moves

Attack(With Ball)

"D-Pad" - Controls the direction of movement of the player you control
"R1" - Speed burst, Sprint(Hold Down)
"Select" - Changes team play bias(Whether normal, defensive or attacking. 
           Indicated by a small bar under the name of the player)

"Square" - Shot at goal. The power bar indicates how hard and high the shot 
           will go.
"Circle" - Plays a long ball forward. Crosses the ball if played from the 
           side of the penalty area. To reduce the high of the cross just 
           tap the button twice for a medium level and 3 times for a grounder.
"X" - The short pass
"Triangle" - Through pass. This one is extremely useful when trying to 
             unleash a player for a run towards goal.

Defensive(Without Ball)

"D-Pad" - Controls the direction of movement of the player you control.
"R1" - Speed burst, Sprint(Hold Down)
"Select" - Changes team play bias(Whether normal, defensive or attacking. 
           Indicated by a small bar under the name of the player)
"X" - Make your player/marker press an opponent to win the ball. Be careful 
      thought as the referees in this game are incrediblely strict and bringing 
      down a player will definitely result in a yellow card and and 
      sometimes(too often!) a red.
"Circle" - Make your player perform a sliding tackle to win the ball. Make sure 
           you do not tackle a player from behind or it is a definite red card.
"L1" - Switch control to another player(Useful esp when manual cursor change is 
       selected)
"Triangle" - Order your goalie to attempt a rush out of his net to closedown an 
             advancing forward. Useful when the opponent has broken through 
             your offside trap for a one on one with the keeper. Be aware that 
             skilled strikers might try to lob the ball past your goalkeeper.

Defensive Clearence

"Circle" - If the ball is within your own penalty area then your player will 
           kick the ball out towards the midfield in an attempt to clear it. 
           Note that if the ball is a floater the player will hit it first 
           time.

Headers

"X" - Pressing the button will result in the player attempting to head the ball 
      to a teammate.
"Square" - The player will perform a powerful header towards goal. 

Strategy

"L2" and/or "R2" - Activates the preset strategy that your team will play to.

Throw-ins

"D-Pad" - Select the direction of throw in the horizontal axis
"X" - Perform a short throw towards the nearest player
"Circle" - Perform a long throw towards a teammate

Cornerkick

"D-Pad" - Horizontal adjustments to deliver the ball nearer or further from 
          the goalmouth.
"X" - A short("quick") corner delivered to the nearest player. 
"Circle" - Deliver a high ball into the penalty area.
"Square" - Fire a shot into the penalty area.

Freekick

"D-Pad" - Horizontal adjustments to aim the direction of the freekick. Watch 
          for the curve value of the player to see how much of an angle you can 
          add towards the side of goalmouth.
"Square" - Take a shot at goal. Be mindful of the distance you are taking the 
           kick from. A split second press of the "square" button is sufficient 
           to score at closerange. Even slightly too much will result in your 
           kick either clipping the woodwork or sailing over.
"Circle" - Deliver a long ball.
"X" - A short pass to the nearest teammate.

Advanced Moves

"L1" + "X" - Performs a 1-2 or return pass between 2 players. It is rather hard 
             to implement due to interception.

"L1" + "Square" - Lobs the ball past the keeper in an attempt to score. Useful 
                  if the opposing keeper rushes out in an attempt to smoother 
                  the ball away from you. Just keep an eye on the radar for 
                  such opportunities.

That concludes this section. I hope you try out all these moves and if you 
don't get it right just remember to practice, practice and keep praticing.

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Formation & Strategy

Using the right strategy is essential if you want to have any meaningful games 
at level 4 or higher. While it might still be possible to get a respectable 
result at this level you will need to have an exceptional level of experience, 
control, vision and luck. It may also be tiring to maintain such concentration. 
Playing some of the stronger teams without a proper strategy will result in 
your team getting slaughtered. Don't forget that the opposing team will also 
be using their own strategies against you.

Let's begin with the defence type. The game comes with 3 type of defence 
setups. You can alter the shape of the defence by pressing the "square" button 
in the formation setup screen.

Line/Flat - This defensive shape has the defenders moving in tandem maintaining 
            a formation that is relatively straight across the field.

Sweeper - The sweeper is a defender who plays between and behind the stoppers 
          and fullbacks cleaning up any loose balls that got past. A sweeper 
          must have a high state of awareness and game reading skills. 

Libero - Similiar to the sweeper but having a more offensive oriented mindset. 
         The libero can frequently come up and join the attack when the chance 
         arises. The best liberos in this game are Masami Ihara of Marinos and 
         Hong Myung-Bo of Bellmare.

Now to take a look at the various formations available. Personally i do not 
bother to tinker the formations of the teams so that i can play them more 
realistically although this is your own game and you can do whatever you want. 

4-4-2A

This formation normally uses 2 wingbacks, 2 stoppers, 2 defensive midfielders, 
2 offensive midfielders and 2 strikers.

Attacks are generated through the wings or through long and short passes. It is 
slightly harder to control the midfield with this formation but it is a good 
compromise between attack and defence. A common formation used by many teams.

4-4-2B

2 wingbacks, 2 stoppers, 1 defensive midfielder, 1 central midfielder, 2 
offensive midfielders and 2 strikers.

Similar to type A above but more offensive allowing the offensive midfielders 
more options.

4-4-2C

2 wingbacks, 2 stoppers, 1 defensive midfielder, 2 central midfielders, 
1 offensive midfielder and 2 strikers.

Another variation of type B this one starts the ball movement deeper in your 
half but slightly less powerful in the attack. The single attacking midfielder 
can actually augment the strikers as well as provide for them.

4-4-2D

2 wingbacks, 2 stoppers, 2 defensive midfielders, 1 central midfielder, 
1 offensive midfielder and 2 strikers.

This is largely a defensive type formation which guards well against both 
wing and central attacks but limits the offense of your own team. Try 
playing to the counterattack.

4-3-3A

2 wingbacks, 2 stoppers, 1 central midfielder, 2 offensive midfielder
and 3 strikers.

This highly offensive oriented formation packs the front and rear tightly 
but has a thin midfield. While controlling the midfield might be difficult 
you have a strong defense and plenty of "goal-target" when you have the 
chance to attack.

4-3-3B

2 wingbacks, 2 stoppers, 2 central midfielder, 1 offensive midfielder
and 3 strikers.

Similar but with a deeper midfield to support you powerful attack force. 
Provides you with more midfield presence giving balance to a thin mid section.

3-4-3A

3 defenders, 2 defensive midfielders, 2 offensive midfielder
and 3 strikers.

This formation gives good protection against central attacks while generating 
good wing attacks. Though your central attacks might be limited.

3-4-3B

2 stoppers, 1 libero, 1 central midfielder, 2 offensive midfielders and 
3 strikers.

This formation is best used when you face teams with poor offensive 
capablities. The large concentration of attackers will overwhelm any defence 
but will also leave you very vulnerable to counterattacks.

3-4-3C

2 stoppers, 1 libero, 2 central midfielders, 1 offensive midfielder and 
3 strikers.

A more conservative approach to guard against the attacks yet having a 
good chance of scoring when space is created.

3-4-3D

3 defenders, 2 defensive midfielders, 1 central midfielder, 1 offensive 
midfielder and 3 strikers.

The opposite of type B this formation is defensive minded and requires 
a skilled playmaker to generate offence.

3-5-2A

3 defenders, 2 defensive midfielders, 3 offensive midfielders and 2 strikers. 

By far my most preferred formation this offer a significant advantage in both 
attack and defence all in one package. A powerful midfield supported by 
defensive midfielders who can also support the attack as much as defend. 
You could use either a sweeper of flat defence type for this formatiom.

3-5-2B

3 defenders, 1 defensive midfielder, 2 central midfielders, 2 offensive 
midfielders and 2 strikers.

Hmm..this formation seemed to put less emphasis on the central attack relying 
more on penetration of the wings. A more attack oriented formation than 3-5-2A 
but weaker in defense.

3-5-2C

3 defenders, 1 defensive midfielder, 3 central midfielders, 1 offensive 
midfielder and 2 strikers.

This formation seem to congest the central midfield area and is quite 
effective against teams playing 4-4-2 style formations. 

4-5-1A

4 defenders, 2 defensive midfielders, 2 central midfielders, 1 offensive 
midfielder, 1 striker.

This shape plays a solid back line and midfield but looks thin in the finishing 
department. The striker must either be tall or fast and must be able to hold 
the ball well so that his teammates can come forward to join the attack. The 
midfielders are like to get many goals using this 
formation.

4-5-1B

4 defenders, 1 defensive midfielder, 2 central midfielders, 2 offensive 
midfielders and 1 striker. 

This is the christmas tree style formation with a 3 man attack triangle. 
I never actually used this formation much so i don't know its pros and cons.

4-5-1C

4 defenders, 2 defensive midfielders, 1 central midfielder, 2 offensive 
midfielders and 1 striker.

This rather naive looking formation provides a strong defence with a powerful 
sting on the counterattack. If you play a opponent using this formation you 
must try to provide long balls to your speedy strikers to get past this 
stonewall defence.

3-6-1A

3 defenders, 2 defensive midfielders, 3 central midfielders, 1 offensive 
midfielder and 1 striker.

A formation offering good defence and control of midfield. The attacking 
midfielder is really a second striker that supports the primary marksman. A bit 
hard to use but still can provide you with a few goals.

3-6-1B

3 defenders, 1 defensive midfielder, 3 central midfielders, 2 offensive 
midfielders and 1 striker.

This formation is obviously an all out attack formation with the striker also 
acting as a ball holder for his goal scoring midfielders. A bit vulnerable at 
the back but good at keeping the opponent pinned down at their own area.

That concludes the formation briefs. 

Now i will try discuss the eight preset strategies that come with the game.

Normal - It is normal football strategy with everything taking equal measure.

Centre Attack - Concentrate your attacks on the opponents area right to the of 
                their penalty area.

Right Side Attack - Maybe there is a weak spot on the opponents flank due to 
                    having a player sent off or anything you use this strategy 
                    to exploit gaps in that area.

Left Side Attack - Opposite of the right side attack.

Centerback Overlap - Order your defender to join in the attack not just to take 
                     a shot but possibly a header effort on goal. During this 
                     event one of your midfielders will cover his run.

Zone Press - This will order your players pressure an opponent in their 
             assigned area closing down space and cutting passing lanes. This 
             is opposed to man-man marking where the marker will just stick to 
             his assigned man.

Counterattack - This strategy will make your team quickly take an offensive 
                posture when they have won the ball sprinting forward looking 
                for space. If your opponent goes for one of the more attacking 
                style of play then this is your ideal strategy.

Offside Trap - Although a high risk tactic in the real world this will make 
               your defenders push forward when they see an opponent using a 
               through pass or long ball. It requires a high state of alertness 
               to make it work. When your opponent has been caught offside the 
               referee will blow his whistle and award you the freekick.

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Bonus Team

There is one bonus time you can used in exhibition mode which consist of high 
profile players like Owen, Roberto Carlos, Zidane and so on. To unlock the 
team you must Highlight the "Exhibition" option at the mode selection screen 
and press Up(2), Down(2), Left, Right, Left, Right, X, Circle. Then, press L2 
at the team selection screen to see the bonus team flag.

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Credits

Well..thats about it. We have come to the end of the FAQ. I like to take this 
opportunity to thank all those who have help me in creating this FAQ. 

- My friend Dr.Takashima from Japan who has been a great source of information 
  on the J.League.
- Bluebird and Kaqu also from Japan for helping me with some of the players.
- My good friend Derby for giving me moral support despite constantly bragging 
  me around with his jokes.
- Konami Computer Entertaiment Sapporo for making this great version of the 
  J.League. We look forward to more good titles from you.
- All people who have taken time to read my FAQ and found it useful.

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Say no to drugs and lets kick racism out of football..
Sayonara...see you in my next FAQ.