Brought to you by Incredibles 2, in cinemas July 13.
This summer’s festival of football has exceeded expectations thus far
After two rounds of group games, we have seen Mexico shock the world by beating reigning champions Germany, England shock the world by playing well and countless penalties given thanks to the implementation of VAR.
The beautiful thing about these tournaments is seeing such contrasting but equally effective styles of play come up against each other. In Group H especially, which comprises Japan, Colombia, Poland and Senegal, we have seen a wide range of tactics, styles of play and individual attributes in the players’ skill sets.
Ahead of the release of Incredibles 2, we’ve decided to take a look at the players who best exhibit the qualities of strength, speed and flexibility to find out who have been the most super human players of the past week.
Strongest player
Román Torres
Just like Mr. Incredible, Torres protects his footballing family by using his superhuman strength.
Panama’s captain demonstrated his strength as he tried to grapple with England’s attackers at every corner on Sunday afternoon. England had two penalties due to Torres’ strength that he struggles to keep under control. Torres is Panama’s defensive leader, but he’s also a liability, as he knocks over everything in his path with the sheer force of his movement.
Fastest player
Cristiano Ronaldo
There was one moment in the game between Portugal and Spain, when Ronaldo resembled Dash, as he seemed to teleport from one end of the pitch to the other.
At the age of 33, Ronaldo recorded the fastest sprint speed of any player at the tournament so far during Portugal’s opening group game against Spain. The Real Madrid star reached 34km/h as he turned the burners on during a Portugal counter-attack. It’s a rare sight to see Ronaldo unleash his pace like that these days. He picks his moments, and that’s part of how he has been able to continue performing at such a high level into his thirties.
Most flexible player
Milad Mohammadi
He doesn’t quite match up to Elastigirl, but he gave it a good go.
This is not a player you will remember beyond this tournament, but you will remember what he did. As Iran were chasing the game against Spain, 1-0 down, desperate to snatch a goal from a throw-in during the dying moments, Mohmmadi secured his place in every ‘Funniest Football Moments’ programme that dying TV channels will churn out for all of eternity. Not quite confident enough in his own throwing ability, he devised a plan to add some power to his throw.
He said a little prayer, gave the ball a kiss, and attempted the most audacious front flip throw-in of all time. It didn’t work, of course. He changed his mind at the last minute, and took the throw in like he would normally, after realising the foolishness of the idea he thought was genius only five seconds earlier. But no other player has shown such flexibility at this tournament.
Most defence minded player
Diego Godín
Previously a shy character who let his actions do the talking, there are parallels between Godín and Violet. Both characters have grown over time and eventually come out of their shell. Both lead by example with quiet confidence.
Uruguay are the only team not to concede a goal in the group stage, in no small part thanks to their captain and defensive rock Diego Godín. His leadership and organisation at the back might just carry Uruguay deep into the tournament.
