If Princess Diana played soccer: goalkeeper, rated 86

Princess Diana as a soccer player: scouting report

Princess Diana goes in goal, and the case begins with the quality people remember most about her: the ability to put anyone at ease. A goalkeeper is the voice behind the back four, the one who keeps a nervous defense calm, and that came naturally to someone who spent her public life visiting shelters and charities and making everyone she met feel welcome. Goalkeeping is the best part of her card.

Dribbling is her next best mark, which makes her a keeper who is comfortable with the ball at her feet. She trained in ballet as a girl and excelled at swimming and diving at school, and that grace and athletic timing shows in how she sets her feet and springs toward the corner. Before her public life she worked as a kindergarten assistant in London, and anyone who can manage a room full of small children can organize a back four. She also campaigned against landmines, famously walking through a minefield that was being cleared in Angola, and a keeper needs that kind of courage to dive at a striker's feet. Her pace lets her sweep behind a high line, and her passing is tidy.

Shooting is the soft spot, which barely matters between the posts. Fullback and central midfield are fallbacks thanks to her footwork, but her value is highest in goal by some distance. Pair her with center backs who like to play out from the back, and draft her among the first keepers when you want a calming presence behind your defense.

Plays like A warm, composed keeper whom every defender trusts

Put Princess Diana in your lineup

11 rolls, a starting eleven, 38 matches. Can you go 38-0? Free, no account.