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What's the story?
Manchester City right-back Kyle Walker was recently seen reviewing his FIFA 18 rating card on Manchester City's official YouTube channel. On finding out that his pace was rated lower than his teammates, Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane, Walker confidently called out the two for a race, saying: "A 100-meter sprint, let’s do a 100-meter sprint for charity, not a problem, with us three, and I guarantee I will win.”
You can watch the clip here:
In case you didn't know
Walker has been given 90 rating points in his pace by EA Sports, while Sterling, the right-winger, has been given 93, and Sane, the left-winger, has 94 pace rating. While all the players are rated out of 100 on their skills, such as pace, dribbling, shot power, etc., not everyone has necessarily agreed with the EA scorecards. Walker said that he was faster than the two and that EA has got the ratings wrong.
The heart of the matter
Walker didn't feel quite happy about the fact that his pace was lower than his teammates, Sterling and Sane. On finding out that his pace was given a lower rating, Walker challenged both of his team-mates to a 100-meter sprint race. When Leroy sane got to know that Walker had challenged him for a sprint, he was rather amused. Sane said that Walker could only win a race with Sane if they were to run for a year. Of course, the left-winger believes that he is faster, deeming the FIFA ratings accurate. It was not, however, what Walker felt.
What's next?
Although we don't know if the three Manchester City players would really go forward with the challenge, it might be a treat for the media if it does happen. With just hours remaining for the FIFA 18 launch, however, we're not quite sure if it would make a difference to Walker's theoretical pace rating, even if he manages to beat Sane and Sterling.
Author's take
EA Sports and the football professionals have been getting involved in negotiations related to the ratings. We've seen a few players even take it to the social media, to let EA know about their apparent 'miscalculations' and 'unrealistic ratings'. All the debates apart, it's fun for the fans to see their favourites clash with each other, in the 'race' to be the fastest.
