Freestyle Soccer
Freestylers, take notes – this is how you make history
French freestyle football legend Mélody Donchet and Norwegian sensation Erlend Fagerli triumphed once again in the all-digital Red Bull Street Style 2020 World Final.
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After months of intense competition featuring athletes from around the globe, the climax of the first freestyle football World Championship to be held entirely online saw 24 players from 11 countries battling head-to-head across thousands of miles on a thrilling livestream. Spanish star Cesc Fàbregas was there to hand out honours.
Whether they were performing from Japan, Iran, Colombia, USA or Europe, the structure was the same: two players responded to each other's challenges in three breath-taking rounds of 30 seconds each.
Freestyle football legend and World Final expert Séan Garnier explained: "We have been all around the world with Red Bull Street Style over the years, and this time it was a new format. Freestyle football is about energy, it's about how you bring what's inside of you to the ball."
Mélody Donchet, Red Bull Street Style Champion 2020
© Marc Schwarz/Red Bull Content Pool
Women's final
The women's action came down to battles among the three women who together hold all the championships ever awarded: Donchet, Kitti Szász and Aguska Mnich.
Donchet, who has bravely fought back from a bad knee injury, defeated two-time World Final winner Szász of Hungary in the semi-finals, then had to overcome 2018 champion Mnich of Poland in the final.
I tried to do as much as I could with different moves
The 30-year-old combined technical moves with flair, like breakdance spins, to become the first athlete of any gender to claim four titles, with Szász taking third place ahead of promising British newcomer Lia Lewis.
Donchet said: "I feel good because I couldn't train for eight months. Because of my knee I thought I would not be able to win because I couldn't work on my lowers any more, or even on all there is to do standing. I tried to do as much as I could with different moves."
Erlend Fagerli, Red Bull Street Style 2020
© Marc Schwarz/Red Bull Content Pool
Men's final
The men's final pitted current Norwegian national champion Brynjar Fagerli against younger brother Erlend – the 2018 Red Bull Street Style World Champion – with the two European trailblazers tricking just metres away from each other in the same gymnasium back home.
The pair threw down eye-popping tricks with Erlend's original moves giving him the nod on a split decision to see him become the only freestyler in history to earn a second men's title, as third place went to Sebastian Peña Morales, a Colombian known as the Machine.
I had to give my all, my very best
Erlend said: "I've been training freestyle for nearly 12 years, and especially for this competition I've been training really well with Brynjar. To battle him is always so difficult. I had to give my all, my very best. But it's not just about winning, it's about always evolving and showing your style – and having fun!"
Cesc Fabregas, Tim Warwood and Séan Garnier
© Marc Schwarz/Red Bull Content Pool
A fantastic night
Brynjar and Szász received the impressive consolation of claiming Best Trick honours as World Cup Champion and two-time European title-winner Fàbregas judged the contests from his Monaco home.
The Spanish assist king, who currently plays midfield for AS Monaco, awarded the men's crown to Brynjar for his Next-Door with a Roly-Poly and Szász, the women's crown, for her innovative karate kick moves.
Fàbregas enthused: "I really had a fantastic night, it was amazing. I was looking for creativity and I saw moves I could never do in my dreams. The competition level was so, so high."
Be sure to download the free Red Bull TV app and catch unmissable action on all your devices! Get the app here.
The WFFA judging panel was made up of five famed freestylers, each focusing on a different criterion: Head Judge Gautier Fayolle of France (Performance), Luca Chiarvesio of Italy (Difficulty), Michal ‘MichRyc’ Rycaj (Originality), Martin Schopf of Austria (Execution) and – the first-ever female World Final judge – Jasmijn Janssen of the Netherlands (Overall).
Red Bull Street Style will return in 2021 culminating with on-stage battles for live crowds at the World Final to be held in Spain in the last quarter of the year.
Watch the replay of the 2020 Red Bull Street Style World Final.
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