Difficult situation, nothing less, accepted by Athenian soccer team? (8)
I believe the answer is:
athletic
'soccer team?' is the definition.
'athletic' can be an answer for 'team?' (I've seen this before). I'm not sure about the 'soccer' bit.
'difficult situation nothing less accepted by athenian' is the wordplay.
'difficult situation' becomes 'hole'.
'nothing' becomes 'O' (looks like zero - 0).
'less' indicates named letters should be taken away (less can mean minus).
'accepted by' is an insertion indicator (inserted letters are accepted).
'athenian' becomes 'attic' (I've seen this in another clue).
'hole' with 'o' removed is 'hle'.
'hle' inserted inside 'attic' is 'ATHLETIC'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for athletic that I've seen before include "Lusty" , "See 12" , "Sporty, able-bodied" , "Wigan, for example" , "With a strong and well proportioned body" .)