Oduro has speed to burn in ‘FIFA 15’

TORONTO – Move aside Michael Bradley and Jermain Defoe. Dominic Oduro is taking his place on the world stage in the latest “FIFA 15” video game ratings.

The Toronto FC attacking midfielder is the fifth-fastest player in the world, according to the hit made-in-Vancouver game.

Mathis Bolly of Fortuna Dusseldorf is rated the fastest, ahead of Arsenal’s Theo Wolcott, Parma’s Jonathan Biabiany and Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Oduro comes in slightly ahead of Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale, a Welsh speedster who cost the Spanish powerhouse 85 million pounds (C$152 million).

Others behind Oduro on the pace front include Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Arjen Robben.

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“It’s good to get that recognition,” Oduro, a 29-year-old attacking midfielder from Ghana, said Tuesday with a smile “It’s good you get appreciated for the little things that you do.”

Oduro calls the video game ranking all “fun and games” but said it was good recognition for MLS.

Kekuta Manneh of the Vancouver Whitecaps ranks ninth on the FIFA speed chart. Other MLS players in the top 20 were No. 19 Obafemi Martins and No. 20 DeAndre Yedlin, both of the Seattle Sounders.

Ironically Oduro says he is “really bad” at the FIFA game.

“Any time I play, obviously I try to use myself and I try to pass the ball myself every time,” he said.

Toronto FC coach Greg Vanney knows all about Oduro’s speed and looks for his player to use his talent to get past and behind defenders.

“Dom is fast,” he said.

In the game’s overall player ratings, Messi is No. 1 with a 93 score followed by Ronaldo (92), Robben (90), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (90) of Paris Saint-Germain and Manuel Neuer (90) of Bayern Munich.

The MLS does not figure in the overall top 50 and EA Sports has yet to release the league ratings. But reports have Seattle Sounders striker Clint Dempsey as the top-ranked MLS player with an 81 score, followed by Bradley and Defoe (both 80), and Robbie Keane of the Los Angeles Galaxy and Thierry Henry of the New York Red Bulls (both 79).

Ignacio Piatti is the top Montreal Impact player while Pedro Morales tops the Vancouver Whitecaps, both at 76.

Oduro’s overall ranking score is 64.

Jelle Van Damme of Belgium’s Standard Liege tops the video game rankings for most physical player while Adebayo Akinfenwa of England’s AFC Wimbledon is No. 1 when it came to strength.

Neuer tops the goalkeeper category.

“FIFA 15” comes out next Tuesday.

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