Freestyle Footballers, Edward Murimi (Gatuso) and Rael Kamanda successfully defended their national titles (Red Bull Freestyle Football) on Saturday 31st July at the Nairobi National Museum. The victories saw the two talented Freestylers get a step closer to the World Cup stage set for Valencia, Spain on November 20th 2021.
In attendance was World Champion, Sean Garnier who conducted the trial with the utmost keenness and attention to overlooked mistakes. With regards to the men's final, Edward Murimi was so skillful that he proved to be the better man in the finals against Martin Kibera. Murimi won 20-5. In the Women's category, Harambee Starlets and Makolanders FC midfielder Rael Kamanda put out an impressive performance when she faced Linda Seda in the finals. Kamanda won 21-13 to retain her title.
Murimi, 29, said he owes his victory to Kibera who introduced him to street football as a kid. "I have so far travelled to Brazil, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and South Africa because of Kibera, I'm forever grateful," he said. Garnier said the players were assessed on ball control, difficulty, execution, all-around, originality and integration in their bid to score points.
"The Red Bull Street Style World Champion, launched in 2008, aims to find the best overall freestyle football players in the globe.The sport is growing rapidly and most of the current players have time to build up," said Garnier with a sense of hope that the sport will one day be included at the Olympics.