TWO of Scotland’s best freestylers will take centre stage at UEFA EURO 2020 matches in Glasgow next summer after winning an online talent contest to find Europe’s most original young freestyle talents.
Joe Ashworth and David Mennie saw off tough competition from hundreds of entrants to earn a place in the prestigious UEFA EURO 2020 Freestylers squad chosen by fans across the continent.
The pair were among a number of Europe’s best freestylers to submit videos of their skills as part of UEFA’s Your Move campaign. Entrants were then whittled down to a shortlist by former world champion Liv Cooke, and Tobias Becs, the former European champion, and voted on by fans with two freestylers selected to represent each of the 12 host nations.
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Becs, a 27-year-old from Norway, said: “Deciding who should be on the shortlist was extremely tough – there’s just so much talent out there. The winners will definitely bring skill and colour to what is already the most exciting EURO tournament ever.”
Cooke, a 20-year-old four-time world freestyle record holder and UEFA Women’s Football Ambassador, said: “Fans will be able to see the best freestylers and street footballers Europe has to offer, whether they go to a game in Baku or Bilbao, Glasgow or Rome. It will add a whole new layer to the tournament and hopefully can inspire people to try it out themselves.”
Freestyle football has been made popular in recent years by street footballers such as YouTube sensations the F2s and will add plenty of colour to a number of events in the city during the tournament. It is associated with skills-based versions of the game and shares characteristics with dance and even rhythmic gymnastics.
Joe and David will join the EURO 2020 official mascot Skillzy throughout the build up to the tournament and in appearances at matches at Hampden Park, in the Glasgow fan zone and across Scotland during the official trophy tour.
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The full list of winners from the host cities is:
Amsterdam–Laura Dekker, Jesse Marlet
Baku–Kader Alimova, Nugzar Kvirtiya
Bilbao–Paloma Mayo, Alejandro Portilla
Bucharest–Ioana Andreea, Stefan Florescu
Budapest–Kitti Szász, Zoltán Lipták
Copenhagen–Maymi Asgari, Christopher Bach
Dublin–Ella Steele, Sam Madden
Glasgow–Joe Ashworth, David Mennie
London–Aguśka Mnich, Scott Penders
Munich–Dana Embacher, Samuel Weller
Rome–Anastasia Bagaglini, Antonio Colella
St Petersburg–Svetlana Kovaleva, Igor Oleynik
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