You’ve probably never heard of Yorok Zamora, but that won’t stop him from representing Egypt in South Africa this summer. Known to his friends and family under the more traditional birth name Youssef Ayman, Zamora recently won a place in the 2010 Red Bull Street Style World Final. Held in Cape Town, the tournament determines the skills of 60 participants at freestyle football, a relatively obscure practice which can be lazily defined as “break-dancing with a football.” Al-Masry Al-Youm caught up with the 20-year-old Spanish-Egyptian—the second part of his alias is the name of his Spanish mother’s hometown—shortly before his trip to the tournament.
Al-Masry Al-Youm: How did the South Africa competition come about?
Yorok Zamora: Every two years, Red bull organizes a tournament for freestyle football. The first one was in 2008, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Red Bull decided to hold their next tournament in South Africa, because of the World Cup. I got a call from a friend at an advertising agency, telling me that not only was Red Bull holding qualification rounds in Egypt, but they wanted to hire me as a performer to promote the whole event.
Al-Masry: I take it the qualification rounds went well?
Zamora: I was allowed to enter the finals, which were held last July in Porto Marina. Fortunately, I won and will be representing Egypt in the upcoming tournament.
Al-Masry: Have things changed for you since winning the finals, besides your future trip to South Africa?
Zamora: I was invited to the Red Bull qualification rounds in Valencia, Spain, as a guest of honor. This was in August of 2009. And then I was in India, as a main judge for the qualification rounds held in Mumbai. That was recent; I came back last month.
Al-Masry: What does judging freestyle football entail?
Zamora: Judging the players comes down to three different factors: control or technical skill, creativity and style. And of course, music flow—how well the players move to the music.
Al-Masry: How did you first get into freestyle football?
Zamora: Several years ago, there was that Nike advertising campaign, which showed (Brazilian footballer) Ronaldinho freestyling in several commercials. That was what caught my attention. I was 15 or 16 at the time and was very impressed. It soon went from “how does he do that,” to “I bet I can do that, too.” So I started practicing.
Al-Masry: Did you have any prior football experience or training?
Zamora: I was in a football team in 2006, Zemora Club de Fútbol.
Al-Masry: What about other sports?
Zamora: I used to play wushu kung-fu. My ranking was first in Cairo, second nationwide. But that was when I was 13 or 14. And then I moved on to football. I also do a lot of parkour (freerunning). Of course, this all gave me agility, which is extremely helpful in freestyle football.
Al-Masry: So, how did watching Ronaldinho commercials put you on the path to the World Finals?
Zamora: After those Ronaldinho ads, my interest started shifting to freestyle. I discovered all these videos on sites like YouTube of people whose freestyling skills were unbelievable, way more advanced than anything else I’d ever seen. Some people make a living off of it. So I started imitating what I’d see until I eventually got to a point where I didn’t have to imitate anymore; I could focus on developing my own style.
Al-Masry: How far would you say your style has developed? Do you have any signature moves at this point?
Zamora: (Laughing) There are moves that I’d like to be known for, maybe someday. There’s something I call the Yorok Twist, which is where I’m laying on my side, with the ball balanced on my upper shoulder, and then I roll over frontward as the ball rolls across my back. I catch it on my foot and kick it up.
(he gets up to give a brief vertical demonstration with an invisible ball.)
Was that clear?
Al-Masry: So, is this more of a hobby or do you hope to make a career out of it?
Zamora: At this point, it’s a career. I’m still studying civil engineering at the Canadian International College.
Al-Masry: What are you expecting out of this? If all goes to plan, what would freestyle football ideally lead to?
Zamora: I’m currently in the early stages of establishing a freestyle academy. I’d also like to hold a good ranking, in terms of freestyle tournaments. I have high hopes for this tournament.
Al-Masry: Would you define freestyle football as a sport?
Zamora: It’s a sport and an art. In freestyle football, you can’t separate the two.
Al-Masry: What have people’s reactions been like? Generally, are they supportive of freestyle football, or do they just dismiss it as pointless ball tricks?
Zamora: Overall, I think people genuinely like it. Of course, there are times when I’m performing where people kind of stare at me, not knowing how to react. For me personally, my friends and family are very supportive—especially my father. My mother worries that I should be focusing more on my education, but you know what mothers are like.
The 2nd Red Bull Freestyle Tournament will be held in Cape Town, South Africa on 28 April. For more information, visit www.redbullstreetstyle.com
