What’s the story?
In what comes as a surprise Granada CF’s Guillermo Ochoa has been rated the fastest goalkeeper in FIFA 17. The 31-year old Mexican goalkeeper has an impressive rating of 87 for speed, which means he is almost on par with Dutch footballer Arjen Robben in terms of pace. Robben was one of the quickest footballers on the planet not very long ago, and is now rated almost equally to the goalkeeper at 88.
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For the record, Stevenage goalkeeper Chris Day, with a speed rating of 11, is the slowest goalkeeper in FIFA 17, and trails Ochoa by quite some distance. The Mexican’s overall stats are also quite impressive with an overall rating of 80. Interestingly, Ochoa’s highest rating in speed before FIFA 17 was 77, in FIFA 10, following which he was never rated above 56 in speed till the latest one.
In case you didn’t know…
Guillermo Ochoa made his debut for Mexico at the age of 20 and has featured in 76 international matches so far. The goalkeeper came to the limelight during Mexico’s clash against Brazil at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The match ended goalless, mainly due to the heroics of Ochoa who made four crucial saves and was named as the Man of the Match.
After playing 8 years for Club America, Ochoa moved to AC Ajaccio and later moved to Spain to play 11 matches for Malaga CF, and is currently representing La Liga outfit Granada on loan.
The heart of the matter
With a rating of 87 for speed, the goalkeeper has surpassed many top flight footballers. Argentine Angel di Maria is one of the quickest footballers on the planet right now, but he has been rated 86 for his speed, along with Manchester United star Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
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Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is the highest rated goalkeeper in FIFA 17 with an overall rating of 92 and speed rating of 60.
(Video Courtesy: Hitman89 YouTube Channel)
What's next?
The next edition of the game, FIFA 18 will release around September this year, though the demo will be launched a couple of weeks prior to that.
Sportskeeda’s Take
The high rating for Ochoa doesn’t tell the entire story as goalkeepers rarely venture forward and often make quick, short sprints. The Mexican’s speed can not be compared to attackers like di Maria and Mkhitaryan as they make longer runs on the pitch.
