Playstation 2 football games

In my life a young bachelor, I needed some extra spice. So I have now become the proud owner of a Playstation 2. I must admit, that to this day, I had never tried it. But it has now become a important source of entertainment in my home.

There are quite a few football games for PS2, but so far, I have only tried two: Pro Evolution Soccer 4 and Red Card.

When I first played ProEvolution Soccer I was mostly impressed by the graphics: The players look very realistic, as well as the movements and the whole atmosphere around the matches. The game contains an amazing amount of details, which actually takes a very long time to learn. At first, I was mostly playing against a friend, but have since had a hard time defeating the computer, because of the great amount of combinations on the console. There are also options as to the game strategy, the line-ups and which players to use.

Adding more realism to the game, and to the artificial intelligence in it, it matters which teams and players you select: Brazil will be better than Austria. But of course, if you are a good player, you should be able to win (even) with Austria. There are furthermore options to play different leagues, as well as setting up tournaments. Recently, I played Colombia in an America's Cup tournament. After destroying Brazil 3-0 in the semifinal, I lost 2-1 to Argentina in an exciting final.

RedCard is far behind ProEvolution Soccer in almost every aspect. There is only a limited number of teams to select from, and it is far easier to control the players, whose artificial intelligence is far lower. However, what gives Red Card its comical edge, is that no foul whatsoever is sanctioned. So if you get to know the controls well, you can tackle from behind, elbows in the face, kicks in the knees, etc., with only the game-speaker shouting "amazing the referee let that go!". This is the game for any wanna-be football bully: stay at home playing this, and do not go out to hurt anyone!

There are many more football games I need to try out. I have been informed that a Pro Evolution Soccer 5 is coming out this year. I would certainly also want to try some Manager game. Any recommendations?