LONDON, England — In an incredible display of footballing skills, Carlos ‘Charly’ Alberta Iacono from Argentina and Melody Donchet from France out-classed their opponents in the finals to be crowned world male and female champions, respectively, of the 2016 edition of the Red Bull Street Style World competition, the planet’s premier freestyle tournament inside the jam-packed iconic Roundhouse venue in Camden Town, London, yesterday.

Iacono, who was reaching his third-consecutive final, pulled off an exciting win over Kosuke Takahashai from Japan, while Donchet, who was winning back-to-back titles, easily defeated Aguska Minich from Poland.

In the last 30 seconds of the contest, Iacono displayed some tremendous tricks that had the crowd cheering. He did some double round-the-world twisters and his signature move — the standing calf stall that took away any chance of Takahashi winning.

“I have been to so many finals and could not have pulled it off, and at one point I was going to give up but my friends told me to continue. I have been training really hard and I am just happy that I came out on top this time. Nothing beats hard work,” Iacono said.

Anthony ‘McPro’ Yanchey from Netherlands got the better of Esteban ‘El Pantera’ Hernandez Acosta from Mexico for third position.

Donchet, a veteran in the sport, dominated her opponent from start to finish.

“Wow, it was good. I am just happy that I have won here. I have been working hard on my tricks and I am happy to have retained my crown,” beamed Donchet.

Kalina Matysiak from Poland upset Kitti Szasz from Hungary to claim third spot.

The tournament saw 41 players (33 males and eight females) from approximately 38 countries battling for the most prestigious trophy in freestyle football over two days of classical battle.

– Ruddy Allen