EA's most beautiful game - the FIFA series - has proved a global success. It has sold a record-breaking number of copies, garnered numerous plaudits and awards, and established itself as the leading sports title on the market.

But it almost never was.

Back in 1993, when the Premier League was still in its infancy, the Champions League a new-fangled term, and Lionel Messi had just started to kick a ball, EA Sports took a punt on the FIFA license for their first 'soccer' game.

But, with the World Cup rights secured by a rival ahead of USA 94, bigwigs at the Canada-based...

German Football is on a roll: winners of the 2014 World Cup, club sides leading the way in Europe, a production line of superb talent coming through the system. Yet, fifteen years ago - at Euro 2000 - it was all so different. Germany suffered one of their most humiliating tournament exits as dismal performances saw them finish bottom of their group with just one point... Immediately, the German FA set about fixing things. And rather than fudging matters, they introduced a raft of major changes designed to return German football to its sporting pinnacle in just 10 years.

In this...