Football is not just restricted to kicking the ball around and eventually putting it in the back of the net to score a goal! It goes beyond that; dribbles, passes, runs are all integral to being a quality footballer.
As per recent statistics, an average football player runs around 11.7 kilometres in 90 minutes. Thus, it is essentially a game made up short and long sprints! Players burst into numerous short and sharp bursts of acceleration time and again. The ability to frequently complete these high intensity runs with extremely short periods of rest gives some players an edge above the others.
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Sportskeeda looks at 5 footballers who could have had an alternate career in sprinting.
#5 Hector Bellerin
(Video Courtesy: FC Cunha YouTube Channel)
Hector Bellerin, he is nothing short of a speed demon! The Spaniard broke Theo Walcott’s 40m club sprint record in 2015 which made him the fastest man at Arsenal. Next up, in 2016, he ran the 40-metre distance faster than what Usain Bolt managed during his 100-metre world record stride in 2009.
Bellerin ran the 40m in 4.42 seconds while Bolt had taken 4.64 seconds to cover the first four/tenths of the track. The Arsenal full-back would have been a full two metres in front of the Jamaican Olympian at the 40m mark had they started off together!
What's more, the footballer revealed in an interview with Daily Mail that he challenged the Jamaican for a race, "I’ve been waiting for that phone call from Jamaica. I challenged him a while ago and he said maybe after Rio. So I’m just waiting now, need to push him."
#4 Adama Traore
With a top speed of 34.84 km/hr, the Middlesbrough speedster is regarded as one of the quickest players in England's top division. He has already recorded the top three Boro sprints in the 2016/17 season on three separate occasions which came against Arsenal, Spurs and Watford.
(Video Courtesy: Dário Delgado YouTube Channel)
The 20-year old thus possesses the ability to blitz past the rival defence in a flash making him a prospect to watch out for. And personally, he isn't shy, in fact he takes a lot of pride while speaking about his pace which was evident when he was quoted as saying to Daily Mail, "When I was at Barcelona, the manager told me, 'You are the fastest I see in the club, you pass everyone in the first team.' At the moment, I've not played against anyone quicker. Maybe in the world there is a player quicker than me, but I have not met him yet!"
#3 Antonio Valencia
When FIFA did a study back in 2015 it was found that the Ecuadorian international had left behind the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Gareth Bale and others with his sheer speed on the field. Valencia was adjudged to be the fastest footballer in the world to run with the ball with a record speed of 35.1 km/hr.
(Video Courtesy: ray calderon YouTube Channel)
He gave a proof of his ridiculously rapid acceleration in a Premier League match against Liverpool when he ran a distance of 27 metres in just about 3 seconds, going by that speed if he were to carry on for a 100 metre dash, Valencia would find his name in the record books with a time of 11.1 seconds! And well, this feat was accomplished after 75 minutes of running around during the match!
#2 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
The Borussia Dortmund striker is the leading goal scorer for his team with 17 goals to his credit so far in this season. But, the fact that distinguishes him from his counterparts is his incredible pace on the football field.
The French-Gabonese striker once covered 30 metres in a mere 3.7 seconds. That run was faster than what Usain Bolt ran at the start of his record-breaking 100m dash in Berlin in 2009. Such is his prowess that in December of 2016 he even challenged the Jamaican sprinter to a 30m run, when speaking to CNN in an interview, "I'm waiting for you man. I hope to see you one day, and let's do this challenge!"
(Video Courtesy: GermanFilmz7 YouTube Channel)
It takes guts to race against the world's fastest man and Aubameyang did just that! Bolt, however, remained unfazed and replied with confidence that he can win, "People are always trying to call me out. He knows I am going to win."
#1 Gareth Bale
The Welsh international has honed his skills to become a complete player over the course of the years. With his pace, power and fearsome left boot, Gareth Bale finds himself in the league of the best footballers in world football, currently. But at the heart of it all, is an incredible athlete!
In his teens years, Bale used to blitz past his peers in 1500m and 100m events, even holding a record for completing the 100m dash in a record 11.4 seconds as a 14-year old!
He has taken his speed from the running to the football field as he regularly clocks 34.7 km/hr speeds during matches with a recorded top speed of 36.9 km/hr. Such is his stamina and quickness that he earned praise from world record holder Usain Bolt post the 2014 Copa del Rey final against Barcelona where he darted across the field, leave his defenders for dead and finish with aplomb.
(Video Courtesy: Teo CRi YouTube Channel)
Bolt had then hailed him as the "fastest footballer" when he said, "He showed his great speed when he swept past the defence and then kept his cool and slipped the ball under the keeper’s legs. It seems his past as an athlete [in Cardiff Institute] helped him in this move. It's a goal any sprinter in the world would like to score one day. He's the fastest footballer in the world at the moment."
