TORONTO – Regular watchers of Major League Soccer know Dominic Oduro is freaky fast.
It’s even his Twitter handle: @Freakyfast8.
Oduro’s speed down the wing and his colorful hairstyles make him one of the league’s most recognizable players. But Oduro’s virtual counterpart is making headlines this week after it was revealed that his speed stat is ranked as the fifth best in the world in EA Sports’ FIFA 15.
“It’s good to get that recognition,” Oduro told reporters at training Tuesday. “You’ve got to appreciate it for the little things you do. Everybody knows of my speed, and I try as much as possible to implement that in games. Having that recognition is a blessing to me. At the same time, I think it puts the league on the map a little bit. But it’s all fun and games.”
EA has ranked the Ghanaian ahead of the likes of Lionel Messi, Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Arjen Robben in this regard and only behind four other players. He’s one of four MLS players in the top-20 speed list, alongside DeAndre Yedlin, Obafemi Martins and Kekuta Manneh.
But some of his teammates are skeptical.
“[Andrew] Wiedeman is giving me a little bit of a headache now, [saying] like, ‘You can beat Ronaldo?’ and stuff like that,” Oduro said. “But I’m like, ‘Well, maybe. That’s what FIFA says.’
“… You’ve got to respect FIFA,” Oduro added, grinning.
- Get the latest TFC news at TorontoFC.ca
TFC head coach Greg Vanney had some fun with the rating as well.
“I’ll tell you, he’s gotten slower,” he joked. “I played with Dom in his rookie year in Dallas, and no, he hasn’t gotten slower. Dom’s fast. That’s definitely one of his attributes, and for him to continue to use that as one of his strengths is really what I want to get out of him. To continue to threaten, get behind backlines, to use space in his favor; if he gets a guy one-on-one with some space behind, just push the ball and go. Don’t try to make too much out of it.”
Vanney said he would like to test the limits of his speedy winger sometime.
“I have no idea how he ranks in the world of speed,” Vanney said. “I know he’s one of the faster guys in MLS. Maybe next year at the All-Star Game, we could do a 100-meter contest and pick the five guys and see who comes out on top.”
While Oduro has virtual bragging rights over all but four speedsters in the world, he cannot say the same when actually playing the video game.
“I’m really bad at it,” Oduro said with a smile. “Any time I play I try to use myself, and I try to like, pass the ball to myself every time. I’m not really that good at it. I want to believe I’m good, but I try as much as possible just to have fun.”
