Freestyle footballer achieves seventh Guinness World Record aboard cruise ship
T
he “best freestyle footballer in the world” has achieved her seventh Guinness World Record aboard a cruise ship.
Liv Cooke landed 76 alternating crossovers with a soccer, beating the report for the “most sit-down alternating football crossovers in 30 seconds (female)” whereas on the Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas cruise ship in Barcelona.
“For me, it’s not about the world record itself, it’s me needing something to work towards and strive for – it’s the process that fuels me”, the 24-year-old who lives in Cheshire instructed the PA news company.
“I don’t want to just beat the world record for women, I want to beat the record full stop because I believe I’m the best freestyle footballer in the world.”
She added that reaching the report on Symphony of the Seas was “incredible” and “I couldn’t think of a more unique place to achieve [it]”.
FC Barcelona commented on Ms Cooke’s socials to congratulate her on the feat, however the freestyle footballer stated that whereas that was “amazing”, inspiring youngsters is the “most important” factor for her.
“There were some kids boarding the ship ready for their holiday and they came up to me and said ‘oh, you’re going for your seventh world record’ and they were as excited as me”, she stated.
“It’s amazing that FC Barcelona shared a video congratulating me – they even had a shirt made with a number seven and Cooke on which was really cool and they’ve always been good to me – but for me it’s more important seeing the impact on young people.”
Ms Cooke stated that rising up with two older brothers performed a job in her preliminary hopes to turn into a footballer.
“From the minute I could walk, they were blasting a football at me, usually putting me in the net so they could practise their striking”, she stated.
“I loved football – I was always out on the street kicking a ball around and wanted to play for England and I was on track and at the camps, training with the Lionesses that you see today and then I got a lower back injury.”
Ms Cooke stated this damage “broke my heart” and she or he was out of motion for seven months, however her sturdy curiosity within the sport compelled her to attempt to transfer about as a lot as she may.
“Probably on the three/four-month mark, I was in my garden sat in a position that didn’t hurt my back, trying to keep the ball up and without knowing – that was the start of my freestyle journey.
“I didn’t even realise I was freestyling at the time – I was learning one trick, and then another and I just became obsessed with progressing and by the time I was fit to go back into football, I had absolutely fallen in love with football.”
Someone who performed a key half in Ms Cooke’s development was freestyle footballer Laura Biondo, whose report was the one she beat not too long ago.
“I was just in awe of her – I saw her on a Nickelodeon live show doing sole juggles (where you use the soles of your feet to juggle a football) and I made it my mission to go home and learn [one of them]”, she stated.
“I messaged Laura on Instagram and I thought, she’s never going to reply, she’s got loads of followers and I remember when she replied and gave me some advice on how to learn that trick, I was out there all day learning it, and I got it.
“She was a mentor and role model to me in the early stages of my career.”
Speaking about beating her function mannequin’s report, she stated: “It’s funny how it all comes in full circle now and Laura’s been amazing, she’s already congratulated me on this record.”
The Uefa ambassador additionally spoke about her pleasure concerning the upcoming Women’s World Cup from July.
“I think we’ve got a very, very good chance of winning and I have every confidence we can and will win”, she stated.
“I’m excited to be out there, on the ground, going to every single England game and supporting the girls.
“I’ve got good relationships with them. I’ve played with a few of them growing up, so it means more to me than a regular fan and I think the whole nation is going to be behind the girls.”
With lots of her soccer movies going viral, Ms Cooke hopes she will be able to encourage others to “go out there and try it” if they’ve an curiosity within the area.
“I’ve reached a point where I can make tricks look easy, but they’re not easy and I think when young people try and fail, they might get disheartened,” she stated.
“But I trained for eight years to get to this level and I like to show [viewers] the process, I like to show them I’m human and fail. I keep practising, I get up again and go again.”