I bet Half the World Cup Soccer players can run a 4:10 mile.

Pele wrote:

They run all out sprint for 90 plus minutes.

THIS^^^^^ is why I joined letsrun. To see the foolery posted on here! I wonder what he thinks the Spurs can run too.lol

soccer is like the fat girl in your hometown that everyone rode

doesn't mean she was popular

story today on running and the world cup games - they run 7-10 miles in 90 minutes. not so much. but interestingly, the better players and teams run less because they are better technically.

http://fittish.deadspin.com/world-cup-the-better-you-are-the-less-you-run-1592125133?rev=1403035156

Bad Wigins wrote:And they heel-strike heavily from a lifetime of running on Astro turf. So they'd be lousy at 400m too.

What a ridiculous statement. Soccer shoes have essentially no padding; no one learns to heel strike while wearing them. You won't see a single player heel strike during the world cup.

(Also, outside of a very few urban areas, where soccer is less popular anyway, soccer players tend to play on grass.)

I did soccer from age 8 till 16. After one year of running I was capable of 4:15 on 1500m.

Most of the world cup soccer players can run a sub 5 minute mile. Some goalies not or some heavy players.

I think a better statement is: 75% of World Cup players could step on a track right now and break 2:00 for the 800m.

4:10 is just a completely different beast that I would argue is nearly impossible to run without specific training. I'd be hard pressed to believe the OP has ever come close to achieving it.

The ball is only in play for 60-65 minutes for the average game.

I bet half the world cup soccer players are juiced to the gills. I bet the other half are too.

I was a decent soccer player in club and high school, even playing for the same club as one of the current starters for the US. However, as we all developed physically it got to the point where most coaches agreed that I did not have the top speed to play at the next level. I went on to a decently successful D1 career in xc/track, focusing on the steeple and 5k, but getting my 1500 down in the low 3:50's (about 4:10 equivalent). I was not a big kicker, but I wasn't severely limited by that either. In college I hung out with the soccer guys a good bit, and got a sense of their aerobic training. I would say there is a good 5-10% at the highest level who could run under 4:20, and maybe a few outliers who could break 4:10. These would tend to be the midfielders in the 150 lb. range. If 8-12 months were dedicated to base mileage and then specific training, I would say almost all of those sub-4:20 guys could cut below 4:10, and we might see one or two sub 4:05's. These are clearly tough predictions to make, but the talent is there.

I used to be an elite soccer player on a high level in the National Premier League but know I am a distance runner and have much more talent in that. I can say from experience that soccer gets you into great shape but NOT 4:10 shape. Most of those guys would be better 400/800 meter runners and still not do amazing.

4:10 is quite the standard, but if any footballer is capable with proper training, it'd be Di Maria (Argentina / Real Madrid).

olq53hnon53n wrote:

Bad Wigins wrote:And they heel-strike heavily from a lifetime of running on Astro turf. So they'd be lousy at 400m too.

You won't see a single player heel strike during the world cup.

(Also, outside of a very few urban areas, where soccer is less popular anyway, soccer players tend to play on grass.)

I just watched a random 10 seconds of Korea-Russia replay and saw plenty of heel striking. You are wrong.

People that run on grass heel strike too. You don't need padding to heel strike on grass whether it's real or fake. The grass is softer than any running shoe. You don't know anything.

Also one would think Bale could run a pretty decent 800 for a footballer. He's a bit big to be a miler, but seems like he'd be pretty capable at the shorter distance.

cut that in half wrote:

I think a better statement is: 75% of World Cup players could step on a track right now and break 2:00 for the 800m.

4:10 is just a completely different beast that I would argue is nearly impossible to run without specific training. I'd be hard pressed to believe the OP has ever come close to achieving it.

Not a chance. Maybe 2:05

Pele wrote:

They run all out sprint for 90 plus minutes.

Perhaps one of them could who is perhaps an ex runner and still does a lot of track outs, but 4:10 requires specific running training. Most of them are 5 minute milers, with the better ones around 4:40, which is pretty good for non runners.

Where did you get the idea they run all out sprint for 90 minutes? Do you even watch the matches. Half the time half of the players are standing around and the other quarter, if that, are dribbling and passing the ball.

I'll bet none of them can run 4:10, zero, zip. What are you watching?

I doubt that any soccer player in the WC could run a mile at WR pace for marathon. Very few could run a mile at the women's WR pace for marathon. The fittest soccer players run 8 miles in 90 minutes in a match which is hardly an indicator of amazing aerobic fitness. People go on about soccer players earning more money than other sports people and therefore they are the best athletes. That is false logic. Look at boxers, yes they earn way more money than UFC fighters but no boxer would last more than a few seconds in an real fight with a UFC guy. More money does not equal better athlete, it is just to do with the way sports are marketed and accepted by the mainstream media.

almost as funny as 4:10 wrote:

cut that in half wrote:

I think a better statement is: 75% of World Cup players could step on a track right now and break 2:00 for the 800m.

4:10 is just a completely different beast that I would argue is nearly impossible to run without specific training. I'd be hard pressed to believe the OP has ever come close to achieving it.

Not a chance. Maybe 2:05

In the super skills challenge the pro soccer player ran 2:15 btw.

I have the off-season fitness schedule for the defending national champion University of Notre Dame soccer team at home. I will post it this weekend.

Besler used this schedule at ND.