Yes it can, as Bohdan already demonstrated:
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We used to do sports with slower cameras, lenses and MF as well a bunch of years ago.
However, the photo this shoot is from made me get a used 1D III

. A fast camera designed for sports etc. does make ones life easier. It was a little frustrating the 5D II AF had problems following the action. Although to be fair, I had problems with that myself too, with these guys racing around at 60 km/h and more on this track, especially when aiming straight at me

.
This was with 100-400L at 400 mm and F/5.6. IOW, not an optimum combination for sport sphotography, especially not in this weather towards dusk

.
Kind regards, Wim