RAWALPINDI: Renowned French freestyle footballer Sean Garnier showed students how to handle a football at the National Council of Arts (NCA) on Tuesday.

On the last leg of a tour of the country organised by Red Bull, he showed the audience how to keep control of the ball while moving his body around, and after a while, it seemed like the ball was dancing to his tunes.

He then challenged the audience to come and kick the ball through his legs. One student, Marria, came close to doing so, but could not compete with the internationally famed freestyler.

Some boys took the freestyler up on the challenge too, but failed to beat him. They then tried to match Mr Garnier’s dance skills to bhangra and dhol beats. However, the Frenchman’s bhangra performance was met with greater applause from the audience. The sportsman talked to the students throughout his performance and praised them in Urdu.

One of the organisers, Maria Mahesar, told Dawn that the freestyler had started his tour of Pakistan on November 17 and that the tour will end on Tuesday (November 24).

She said: “Sean’s tour was aimed at exploring and understanding the local freestyle community in Pakistan that has been growing over the years.”

He said Mr Garnier had even told his fans across the world about the audience in Pakistan. She said the Frenchman had visited Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi and that he had come to the NCA on the Metro Bus from Faizabad to Liaquat Bagh.

Mr Garnier told Dawn that his visit to Pakistan had been very exciting.

“It is nice to go places and see people. I enjoyed coming to Pakistan; its cool,” he said. Students said they had loved seeing the freestyler’s performance.

One student, Murtaza Ahmed, said: “I came very early today so I wouldn’t miss seeing him. His style is so unique.”

Another student, Saima Ali, said she had wanted to get a picture with the guest and that the visit was even more important at this time, when there was tension and misunderstandings all over the world.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2015