Freestyle football
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Freestyle football, also known as freestyle soccer in North America, is the art of juggling with a football using feet, knees, lower legs, chest, shoulders, and head while simultaneously performing creative, skillful moves and keeping the ball airborne. Similar in style to keepie uppie and kemari, it has become a widespread sport across the world and is played by many people.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Increase in popularity
Freestyle football has existed for some time, but it has seen a surge in popularity as a result of global advertising campaigns and digital media sharing. In the early 21st century, Nike began an advertising campaign which relied heavily on the freestyle form of football, including video clips of freestyle performances. These advertisements featured famous players such as Ronaldinho and Edgar Davids. Many link such mass media attention to the start of the freestyle craze. In the YouTube era, however, many previously non-famous players have risen to prominence, and internet searches easily yield thousands of videos by amateur "freestylers" around the world.
Some of the more notable freestylers include; Hee Young Woo (Mr. Woo) of South Korea, Craig Dobson, Abbas Farid and John Farnworth, who appeared in Britain's Got Talent in 2009, all from the United Kingdom.
[edit] Freestyle competitions
Shortly after, Nike launched a freestyle football competition on the internet "Nike Football", in which participants could submit their own clips and receive feedback from a worldwide audience.
In December 2006 the "Masters of The Game" competition, held in Amsterdam and was won by John Farnworth. Nutmeg or Panna and other street football competitions have been held featuring street soccer players such as Edward Van Gils 'Edje', Issy Hitman, Jermaine Vanenburg 'Vaantje'and FX.
In 2007 there was a competition in Latin America called Red Bull Reaccion.
Also in 2007 Redbull futbol de calle was held in NYC's Webster Hall.
The French Arnaud "Séan" Garnier is the first world champion of Street Style Soccer, with an impeccable performance. The final of the Red Bull Street Style competition was held in Brazil In November 2008. Arnaud Garnier "Séan" beat out the other 42 competitors to win the competition. [2]
[edit] Freestyle in the media
- Urban Freestyler (2006), a UK freestyle DVD featuring Abbas Farid, Billy Wingrove, Mike Delaney, Dan Magness, Rob Walters, Faton Gerbeshi, Paul Wood, Joe Davies, Steven (S9), Scott Griffiths, Craig Dobson, Al Johnson and Tommy Baker
- "Learn freestyle football", featuring Billy Wingrove
- In the Hands of the Gods, a 2007 documentary that follows five British freestyle footballers as they try to raise money by showcasing their skills, in order to fund a trip to Buenos Aires to meet their idol Diego Maradona
- Joga Bonito, ("Play Beautifully" in Portuguese) is a football-oriented social network service created by Nike and Google, based upon Google's orkut
- Nike Stickman TV commercial, featuring Hee Young Woo
- 2008 redbullstreetstyle worldfinal in sao paola
[edit] References
- ^ Britain's Got Talent star Jeremy Lynch faces a new nerve-racking audition at a top football club | The Sun |Showbiz|TV
- ^ « Freestyler Sean wins Red Bull Street Style Competition », peoplestar.co.uk, 2008-12-07.
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2008) |
