Rivals: England 1966 vs West Germany 1990, a good kick-up when you need one!

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Klinsmann on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched Charlton glitter in the dark near Wembley gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain “… said Des Lynham, raconteur and CEO of smoothness, as we handed him his copy of Time Vault Soccer “Rivals” the Dark Prince of all soccer games.

No. We didn’t understand what he was on about either. But “Rivals” has arrived and first edition soccer cards are available to buy through our web shop now. So if you fancy seeing what would have happened if you were in charge and the England 1966 World Cup Winning squad went up against the power of the West Germany 1990 World Cup winning squad, then knock yourself out!

Gascoigne, Linekar, Pearce and Chrissy Waddle failed. Höttges, Schnellinger, Beckenbauer and Uwe Seeler failed… Bobby Chartlon, Lothar Mattahuas, Gordon Banks, Jurgen Klinsmann, Alan Ball, Andreas Brehme, Nobby Stiles, Rudi Voller… mmmmmm!

All the above, and more, soccer stars are yours to celebrate and command. We will be exploring all that’s new in more detail over the coming weeks but, to get you started, here is a quick look at the new skills, features and rule tweaks that will keep Time Vault Soccer top of the fun football games to play list.

**31 New soccer cards* + 16 new skills.**

*Bobby Moore 65-66 season features in the original “Debut” series so we can’t count him again… but he does get a kicking makeover to make him even more Time Vaulty.

Jurgen Klinsman “Too Clever” (Intelligence Skill). That was never a Free Kick!
Rudi Voller “One On One” (Tactical Skill). Kipper that isolated defender?
Thomas Hassler “Commit The Defender” (Flair Skill). Run away!
Lothar Matthaus “ Drive From Deep” (Flair Skill). What, why, nooooo!
Jurgen Kohler “Press The Ball” (Teamwork Skill). Safer to hunt in packs!
Klaus Augenthaler “Sweeper” (Positional Skill). Gap? What gap?
Andreas Brehme “Dead Ball Specialist” (Set Piece Skill). Did someone say “Klinsmann”?
Jimmy Greaves “Anticipation” (Intelligence Skill). Rebound? Nah… in your face!
Geoff Hurst “Eye For Goal” (Flair Skill). Just shoot why don’t you!
Alan Ball “Midfield Dynamo” (Teamwork Skill). Options people. Options!
Bobby Charlton “Trequartista” (Creative Skill). And then some!
Nobby Stiles “Midfield Destroyer” (Intimidation Skill). Watch your mouth kid!
Martin Peters “Ghosting Into Attack” (Intelligence Skill). He what? Where?
George Cohan/ Ray Wilson “Overlapping Fullback” (Tactical Skill) defend, attack, whatever!
Jack Charlton “Stopper” (Positional Skill). If only we had… ah, it’s ok.
Gordon Banks “Safe Hands” (Technical Skill). He’ll be having that then!

New feature:

The “Ref’s Call” for winning Free Kicks and Penalties

Welcome to jeapordy. When attacking and defending moves are of equal power the “Ref’s Call” is now triggered. The defending Manager selects an unseen card from the attacking Managers Hand.

Gordon Banks, Norman Hunter, Stefan Reuter and Guido Buchwald all carry a Yellow card. John Connelly and Olaf Thon carry both Yellow and Red… it’s up to you. Do you want to risk bringing the last man down?

Note: Certain special skills also trigger the “Ref’s Call”. Jurgen Klinsmann and Nobby Stiles both need to flirt outrageously with the Referee to successfully land their special skills. Simply follow the instructions on the cards as you play them.

Rule update 2021:

Free Kicks and Penalties

Free Kicks – The defending Manager holds up two cards from their Hand. The attacking Manager reveals one card from their Hand stating it’s Attack Rating and selects one of the defending cards to be revealed. If the defending card has a higher Defend Rating or is Goalkeeper, the Free Kick is saved, otherwise get knee sliding!
Penalties – Are taken the same as Free Kicks except the defending Manger selects 3 cards. Left, center or right – where’s the attacker going to place it?

Penalty Shootouts

Prepare Shooting & Saving Decks – Using the Match Decks in use at the end of play, separate your pairs of players into two decks. Place one in your Attack Zone (Shooting Deck), the other in your Defend Zone (Saving Deck).
Select penalty takers – Choose 5 players from your Shooting Deck to form your Shooting Hand.
Select and draw your Saving Hand – From your Saving Deck select your Goalkeeper, shuffle and cut the remaining players. Draw 4 to add to your Goalkeeper.
Take a Shootout penalty – Following normal game rules for penalties take turns to shoot and save. Revealed cards are discarded and a replacement saving card is drawn from the Saving Deck for the next saving turn… unless it is the Goalkeeper. Goalkeepers are put back into the Saving Hand.
Each Manager takes 5 penalties. If scores remain tied, move to Sudden Death. Take turns drawing players from your remaining Shooting Deck until one scores and the other misses.

Shooting from Kick Off

You can now shoot from a Kick Off if your cards allow you to do so i.e you have an attack already in play. However, players joining an existing move from Kick Off can be countered by your opponent. As before, players that start a new move from Kick Off cannot be countered.

All 2021 rules supersede any previous rules and can be found in the “Rivals” Rule Book, which you can download for free here.

Want to know more about Time Vault Soccer or get in touch with us then join up for the Boss’s Notes here… because it’s better than copping a free kick in the codgers with one of these beauties! Yes, we remember the fallen.

How to play, Squads