“How is a Ronaldo free kick faster than a Formula 1 car?”

Castrol not only pose the question, but provide the answer. The Castrol Performance Index is a player rating system designed by Castrol, with the assistance of coaches like Arsène Wenger and players like Cristiano Ronaldo.

Castrol, an official 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP sponsor, first used the Performance Index in the 2008 Euro tournament. The system uses two sets of eight cameras to monitor and record every player’s movement on the pitch. These movements are then analysed by Castrol’s team of performance analysts, who then award players a score out of ten, depending on their influence on the result of a game and ultimately a tournament.

 There can be little surprise that David Villa is the top performing player in the Confederations Cup here in South Africa, followed closely by Kaka and Torres. The good news is that two South African players, Masilela and Gaxa, are among the top 11 rated players in the tournament, according to position.

Arsène Wenger said of the system, “Insights from the Castrol Index are invaluable because the game is played by 11 players and you have only two eyes to observe everything on the pitch. The more concrete data and analysis you can have, the more confident you are in terms of making the right judgment.  Having the intelligent analysis of the Castrol Index is crucial to me as a manager.”

The best bit about all this analysis and data is that it is freely available online. You can find all the Confed Cup stats at www.castrolfootball.com/confedcup/.