Irish soccer freestyler finishes second in the world

Dubliner Daniel Dennehy saw off competitors from 53 countries to claim second place in the 2012 Red Bull Street Style final in Italy.

By Declan Whooley

Dennehy finished runner-up to Kotaro Tokuda of Japan and admits his achievement still hasn’t fully registered yet.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet, it’s just unbelievable… I’m over the moon and incredibly happy with myself after everything I’ve been through to get to this point,” he told SportsNews Ireland.

He hopes that his increased profile will present more opportunities as he concedes it is difficult to earn a living from the sport.

His fascination with the sport stemmed from YouTube after watching Dutch legend Soufiane Touzani and he hasn't looked back since.

The 21 year-old won a series of ‘battles’ where competitors are judged on control, creativity, style, best trick and overall routine. Entrants display their wares in three 30-second rounds and World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro was part of the judging panel.

Even though our football team had a bad European Championships and an indifferent start to the new campaign, it is good to see an Irishman taking the Street Style world by storm and giving us a feel-good story.

Have a look at some of the best action from the competition in the video below.