The Backpage | EA SPORTS FIFA 13 New Skills And Celebrations

In this week’s Backpage, football journalist and FIFA fan Darren Cross reveals some of FIFA 13’s new skill moves and ways to celebrate…

I remember the first time I discovered the Shhh celebration while playing FIFA. I hadn’t really paid much attention to the commands for any of the celebrations before then, preferring instead to mash a few buttons and see what I could come up with after scoring a goal.

Then I found the Shhh and loved it. Before you could say billy-no-mates I was busting this out and running straight at the camera in games against all of my friends, and I liked it so much that I looked into the commands for other celebrations.

A similar thing happened with skill moves; they weren’t something I spent time learning at first, then I accidentally beat a defender and bagged a cracking goal after doing a move, and it looked so good that I immediately began learning how to do all of the others.

While each new FIFA brings plenty of great features and improvements to get excited about – and FIFA 13 is no exception, with the brilliant First Touch Control, Complete Dribbling and Tactical Free-kicks, to name a few – I’m always just as keen to discover the new skill moves and celebrations. I’m happy to say that there are plenty in FIFA 13, so in this week’s Backpage we’re going to look at how and when to do them.

Let’s kick off with celebrations. There are two new ones you can pop out right away, and a further eight that are EASFC unlockables…

THIGH POINT
This is one of the two celebrations that are instantly available, so you can try it in the demo. Your player will stop and point at his leg, which is exactly what I’d do if I ever scored with my left in real life (which I won’t, by the way).

HOW?
Hold LT or L2 and flick the right stick right twice.

KNEE SLIDE
The second available new celebration is the Knee Slide which, erm, involves your player sliding on his knees. He’ll also salute while sliding.

HOW?
Hold LT or L2 and flick the right stick up then down.

EASFC UNLOCKABLE CELEBRATIONS
You’ll have to wait for the full game before you can try these out, and my version doesn’t have the EASFC catalogue so I can’t describe them to you, but I can tell you how to do them…

WHY ALWAYS ME?
Hold RB or R1 and double tap Y or triangle.

MUSCLE FLEX
Hold RB or R1 and flick the right stick up then down.

SURFER
Hold RB or R1 and hold the right stick left.

PUSH UPS
Hold RB or R1 and flick the right stick right then left.

KISS THE PITCH
Hold RT or R2 and double tap B or circle.

PIT BULL
Hold RB or R1 and press B.

THE SALUTE
Hold RB or R1 and press Y or triangle.

IF I CATCH YOU
Hold RT or R2 and press R3.

And now for the skill moves…

REVERSE ELASTICO
Think of the Elastico move, but the other way around; instead of moving the foot out to in, it goes in to out.

HOW?
When attacking to the right, hold LT or L2 and swing the right stick from up to left to down.

WHEN?
This can be handy for creating a bit of space to move past a defender if you time it right. I don’t use it all that often, but give it a try and see what you think.

WHO?
Only players with five star skills can do this.

REVERSE IN AIR ELASTICO
Guess what… this is the Reverse Elastico but in mid-air. That means it’s a juggling move.

HOW?
Start a juggle with RB or R1 then – when facing right – flick the right stick up then down.

WHEN?
With the exception of flicking the ball up to turn past a defender or set up a volley, I’ll only start a juggle when I want to showboat.

WHO?
Again you’ll need a player with five star skills if you want to try this one.

SCOOP FAKE SHOT
Your player will look as if he’s going to blast the ball at goal, then he’ll roll his foot over it to take it past an incoming defender.

HOW?
This is a contextual trick so it’s quite tricky to make it happen every time but you do it by pressing A or X while powering up a shot or lob, and holding the left stick in the direction you want to move. Don’t be too sharp with your angles though, as you’ll probably chop the ball instead.

WHEN?
It’s a good one when you’re winding up a shot on the edge of the area and you have a defender heading towards you. I’ve done it a number of times with Ben Arfa in situations like that.

WHO?
You’ll need a player with five star skills for this one.

BALL ROLL FLICK
You’ll roll your foot over the ball a number of times to the left or right – it’s your choice – then you’ll knock it back across your path with a kind of Hocus Pocus move.

HOW?
When facing right, hold LT or L2 and hold the right stick up or down, then flick it right.

WHEN?
I like doing this when an opposition player is tracking me closely, as the fast change of direction can buy you the space needed to make a quick burst away.

WHO?
This is another five star move.

AIR FAKE
Your player will pretend to shoot, but then kick over the top of the ball without touching it.

HOW?
When standing still, hold LT or L2 then do a regular fake shot move without any input on the left stick.

WHEN?
You’re not going to beat anyone with this move, so it’s really one for winding your opponent up.

WHO?
All players can do this one.

FAKE SHOT PASS
You’ll shape as if to shoot, but then play a kind of no-look pass to a team-mate with your standing foot while still going through the motion of a shot with your other leg.

HOW?
Like the Scoop Fake Shot, this trick can be tough to do consistently. To try it, play a flair short pass by holding RB or R1 and directing the ball with the left stick.

WHEN?
Again, like the Scoop, this is best used on the edge of the area when under pressure.

WHO?
Only players with the flair trait can do the Fake Shot Pass.

FAKE SHOT TO STOP
This is one of the most simple new skill moves, yet it’s probably my favourite. Your player will shape to shoot then stop instantly and put their foot on the ball.

HOW?
When running, let go of the left stick then perform a regular fake shot.

WHEN?
Stop-start has always been an effective way to beat defenders – both in the real world and in FIFA – and I use this method as an alternative to holding LB or L1 to stop, as I think it’s a bit quicker and harder to read.

WHO?
Everyone can do this, even keepers.

Okay, that about wraps things up for now. Enjoy the new tricks and celebrations and I’ll see you back here next week.

Darren
@Darren_Cross