Footballet

It’s not shooting goals that takes centre stage at Red Bull Reaccion but the dance with the ball. The most imaginative football artists from Mexico to Chile are hoping to qualify for the last places in the finals by the end of October.

The best footballers of South and Latin America have names like Patadita, Donaldo Barros and Cristian Hidalgo. Never heard of them? The reason for this is that the afore-mentioned ball artists don’t have contracts with River Plate or the Boca Juniors, and have never appeared in the Aztec Stadium – but have been discovered at Red Bull Reaccion.

Quality of style above abundance of goals

To win the Red Bull Reaccion qualifying events in their respective home countries it takes perfect as well as creative “handling” of the ball: In stages that last three minutes each, contestants had to collect points in the disciplines “Style,” “Control” and “Creativity,” and to show as many amazing moves and freestyle tricks with the ball as possible. Dispensed with here were the often preferred elements of conventional football, such as teams and playing fields: As with rap or break dance battles and within the scope of an urban street contest, each participant faced opponents drawn from a pool; the better of the two made it into the next round – until only one player remained, thus securing themselves a spot in the finals in Buenos Aires on November 13.

Half- time in the qualifier match

More than half of the finalists have already been chosen: Brazil, Bolivia and Trinidad announced their representatives as early as September; Perú, Venezuela, Panama and El Salvador followed at the beginning of October. Results from Mexico, Jamaica and Nicaragua will provide an exciting wag of the qualifier tail; the suspense is mounting, and on October 21 the last three finalists will be revealed.

Stars of tomorrow?

By the way, it’s quite possible that a few of the Red Bull Reaccion contestants might also have a promising future in football with conventional rules: At many of the Red Bull Reaccion qualifiers the young average age of the kicking talents was surprising. And this is how 13-year-old Gian Franco Letieri served up winner-to-be Donaldo Barros with such a tenacious duel that the final round had to be extended. Among other tricks, Letieri took off his t-shirt and put it back on again, while balancing the ball on his neck. At the qualifier for Trinidad and Tobago a 16-year-old made his mark – and even inspired the former national footballer Lincoln “Tiger” Phillips to jump out of his seat with enthusiasm.