UAE-based football freestyler Mohammed Wael Abu Asbeh swims against the tide as the freestyle community hits a slump

Mohammad Wael Abu Asbeh is one of the many talented freestylers who are aiming to carve their niche into the edifice of the Arab freestyle football industry.

The 19-year-old Palestinian freestyler is pursuing a degree in finance at the University of Dubai – and has an insatiable passion for the sport.

And it is perhaps surprising he is often irked by the fact that he is regularly mistaken for being a professional footballer.

“There is a big misunderstanding with freestyle football. Freestyle football is different from playing football,” Mohammed told Sport360. “Freestyle is more like an art; you are an artist more than a football artist. You create your own tricks and you play with the music. So it is all about creativity and having fun.”

Mohammed began freestyling around the time when the freestyle football community in the region was plagued by a lack of quality tournaments failing to provide opportunities to budding artists.

“The main difficulty for me was that the freestyle football community started to decline at the start of 2013, which is right when I started,” he said.

“When I saw the community going down that’s when I started thinking the opposite way and decided not to go down with it. I decided to take my chance and improve.”

Mohammed’s perseverance has landed him commercial projects and shows all over the UAE, despite it being a challenging time for the bright talent of the freestyle community.

Given the current situation, Mohammed is optimistic about his future prospects as a freestyler and hopes to become one of the marquee names in the near future.

“My future plans are to get into international competitions and be one of the top freestylers in the Arab world,” he said.

To stay up to date with Mohammed’s activities and future shows, follow him on Instagram @Wiggelz9.