GERMAN BALLER READY FOR WORLD FINAL IN CAPE TOWN
Among the world’s best freestylers competing in South Africa will be Germany’s Timo Löhnenbach, who is set to battle it out for the world title against ballers from 61 nations.
The 22-year-old was crowned National Champion by star striker Lukas Podolski at the Red Bull Street Style Germany Final in front of 600 fans in his home town Cologne, securing himself in the process a ticket to the World Final in South Africa (26-28 April 2010), where the young German has his sights firmly set on the world crown. However, with the best freestylers from all four corners of the world – including reigning Red Bull Street Style World Champion Arnaud “Séan” Garnier – looking to impress the star-studded judging panel under the blazing South African sun, it certainly won’t be easy.
The World Final will see the best freestyle footballers divided into groups for a two-day qualification phase, where they will compete against the other ballers in their group in head-to-head battles for a ticket to the final round. Each battle follows the same format: 3 minutes, 2 players, 1 ball, with each freestyler having 20 seconds to impress the judges before passing the ball back to his competitor. The top two from each group will progress to the Last 16 stage, where they will battle it out on the final day for the title Red Bull Street Style World Champion 2010.
The Event will take place in front of the seventeenth-century Castle of Good Hope, South Africa’s oldest surviving building, in the shadow of the iconic Table Mountain and just a stone’s throw from the Cape Town Stadium that will host the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Cape Town is the largest and second-most populous city in South Africa, with an estimated 3.5 million people living in the city famous for its harbour and sandy beaches.
With so many nations competing, world-class experts are needed to judge the athletes’ performance according to the strict criteria of ball and body control, creativity and style in combination with the music. Former Juventus Turin, AC Milan and Barcelona midfielder Edgar Davids (NED will be joined as Head Judge by two more icons of the Beautiful Game to elect the world’s best freestyle footballer.
Back in 2008, Red Bull Street Style set the standard for international freestyle football competitions as no fewer than 45 countries battled it out at the World Final in São Paulo (BRA), with France’s Arnaud “Séan” Garnier flipping and tricking his way through to the final, where he defeated Yosuke Yokota from Japan in a close battle to become the first ever Red Bull Street Style Champion.
Schedule Red Bull Street Style World Final Cape Town 2010:
Saturday, 24 April 2010: Arrival of Athletes
Sunday, 25 April 2010: Practice Day
Monday, 26 April 2010: Qualifier Day 1 – Group Battles
Tuesday, 27 April 2010: Qualifier Day 2 – Group Battles
Wednesday, 28 April 2010: World Final – Top 16
