South Africa Bows Down to Kings of Freestyle

Sixty freestyle footballers from all four corners of the world battled it out in Cape Town (South Africa) on Wednesday night at the Red Bull Street Style World Final 2010.

Norway's Anders Solum, 27, tricked his way to gold in front of a huge crowd on the city's famous Grand Parade. South African local hero Kamal Ranchod, 21, progressed all the way to the Final before finally having to admit defeat. Superstars George Weah (LB) and Edgar Davids (NED) presented the trophy to the proud winner in front of journalists from over 30 countries.

CAPE TOWN (RSA). At the Castle of Good Hope in the footballing capital Cape Town emotions came to a head as the best freestyle footballers on the planet showed off their tricks in front of thousands of thrilled fans. Over the course of the three-day event the world-class athletes went head-to-head according to the simple rules of 3 minutes, 2 players, 1 ball.

It was Norway's Anders Solum who managed to impress the star-studded judging panel the most with his wide variety of gravity-defying moves: "I don't know a single professional footballer who can do these tricks," commented Final Judge and three-time African Footballer of the Year, George Weah. "Today we witnessed what it really means to have perfect control of the ball. It took a lot time to come to a decision about which country should walk away with the title."

Dutch star Edgar Davids, who was on the judging panel at the first World Final in Sao Paolo (BRA) in 2008, was also stuck for words: "Unbelievable. It is such a fine line between total joy and huge disappointment. All you can do is look on and be impressed - these guys are just incredible, and I think the Norwegian athlete definitely deserved to win. Massive respect!"

Third place went to Columbia's Christian Mayorga, while Austria's Faruk Onmaz took fourth spot. Major footballing nations such as Brazil, Germany, England, Holland and Spain were the surprise of the night as they ended the competition empty-handed.

As part of Red Bull Street Style 2010, over 5000 competitors took part in 221 National Qualification Tournaments in 60 countries. In 2008 the title went to France's Sean Garnier.

Images : Dean Treml and Craig Kolesky for Red Bull Photofiles.