TOP GERMAN STRIKER LUKAS PODOLSKI SET TO CROWN GERMANY’S BEST FREESTYLE FOOTBALLER
The German national team may have already booked their ticket for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, but who will be representing Germany at the world cup of freestyle football in South Africa next year? The 16 best ballers in the country are set gather in Cologne’s “Bootshaus” on 4 December for the German National Qualifying Final of Red Bull Street Style to battle it out head-to-head to become Germany’s best freestyle footballer and grab a golden ticket to the 2010 World Finals in Cape Town. Last year Cologne’s very own Dominik Kaiser walked off with the title and a coveted place at the 2008 World Finals in Sao Paulo, but now it’s time to find his successor. The competitors will have to show exact ball control and plenty of creativity as well as rocking out the style to impress the star-studded panel of judges comprising top international striker Lukas Podolski, rapper Florian Schuster (“MC Schu”) from the German hip-hop collective Blumentopf, and football choreographer Mike Delaney, who has worked with greats of the game including Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane. Doors open at 6.30 pm; entry costs 8 Euros.
German national team striker Lukas Podolski certainly doesn’t want to miss out on seeing the best freestyle footballers in the country do battle in Cologne, and the centre-forward from 1. FC Köln will be the on hand at the “Bootshaus” to judge the competitors’ ball control. “The tricks that these guys can do are just incredible. I’m really pleased that the best of the best are now set to meet here in Cologne.” Joining Podolski will be MC Schu from German hip-hop legends Blumentopf, keeping a keen ear out for the athletes’ beats and entertaining the crowd with a very special performance, and Britain’s Mike Delaney, who will rate the freestylers’ creativity.
Red Bull Street Style gives the best freestyle footballers in Germany the chance to show that they’ve got the skills to pay the bills, including Denys Darahan (Berlin), Adrian Fogel (Cologne), Camill Hauser (Cologne), Dominik Kaiser (Cologne), Hannes Krause (Berlin), Timo Löhnenbach (Cologne), René Matthusek (Schwäbisch Gmünd) and Thomas Rist (Mainz). Freestylers from across the country were invited to apply via video clips posted on the Red Bull Street Style website, with those applicants receiving the most votes online by 4 December being invited to Cologne to take each other on head-to-head for a place at the World Finals. The format of the National Qualifying Final is simple: 3 minutes, 2 players, 1 ball. DJ Lifeforce will be on the decks from 6.30 pm onwards to get the crowd jumping, and the draw the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ will be shown live on a big screen. The showdown in the National Final between the two best freestylers in the land will then be followed by the aftershow party. Entry – including a free drink – costs 8 Euros.
In 2008, Dominik Kaiser won the German National Qualifying Final and managed to make it all the way to the quarter-final stage at the World Finals in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Competitors from around 60 countries will be in Cape Town in 2010 to represent their respective countries and fight it out for the world title.
For information on the competition visit: www.redbullstreetstyle.com
For information on the members of the judging panel visit: www.lukas-podolski.com, www.blumentopf.com, www.kaosfootball.co.uk
For information of last year’s German champion Dominik Kaiser visit: www.united-freestyler.com
