I’m sure if you’re any way social media inclined then you’ll have heard of Wycombe striker Adebayo Akinfenwa. You know, the guy who’s as wide as a London taxi and as solid as one too. Liverpool fans may also remember that he was the guy that bullied Martin Skrtel in the FA Cup a couple of years ago. He’s a guy that’s built a reputation on being the strongest footballer in the world. Well, according to EA Sports’ FIFA series anyway.
Fortunately, for those who want to know the actual strongest in football based on a physical test rather than through guess work from the boffins at EA, BT Sport have provided a partial solution. With help from a boxing machine, a handy FIFA 18 launch event, some cameras and a couple of contenders then we can have, at least, a partial answer.
I mean, it’ll do until they set up World’s Strongest Man: Footballer Edition from a rainy caravan park in North Wales.
BT have been running their #HardestHits campaign (marketing people and their hashtags eh?) where they take some of the sporting world’s biggest stars and find out who has the… erm… hardest hit. It seems kind of self-explanatory honestly. They’ve had some of sport’s biggest names including Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Dele Alli which means those three now have more than just disappointing in major tournaments for England in common.
Akinfenwa’s opponents for this round? A hyperactive Michail Antonio who says lots about brute strength and some guy named Olly Murs. As far as I can tell he’s this generation’s Robbie Williams without the drugs or questionable boy band background. You can find out how they all did in the video below:
It gets you thinking just who else from years gone by would love to have a crack at that. How about Razor Ruddock? That’s if you could drag him away from the bar for long enough. Vinnie Jones? He’d probably give it a squeeze because it looked like Gazza’s jewel bag. What about Big Ron? He looks like he’d be able to throw down a couple of punches if you could ever annoy him enough on the golf course. Or, and here’s a shout from left field, who wouldn’t love to see Ade Akinbiyi have a pop at that? If it’s anything like his career though, he’d probably miss it completely.
The list is literally endless – John Fashanu, the entire Estudiantes team of the 60s for the hipsters – but tell us which historical figure you’d have loved to have seen take that test on over at @TalesFromTTF. You can also tell us if you knew what an Olly Murs was beforehand as well…
You can watch BT Sport’s #HardestHits across their social channels or on YouTube here
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