Lisa Zimouche Biography

Lisa Zimouche began performing competitively at the age of 13 when she was playing for the Paris Saint Germain women's youth team. Her first competitive performance was at the Red Bull Street Style World Final in 2012. More interested in showing her skills on the street rather than on the field, she decided to leave the team at the age of 14 to develop herself as a freestyle footballer. That year, she won the 2014 World Panna Female Championship. She later told during an interview at soccerloco in Mission Viejo, California that she "felt free" after making the decision. She also added that she only needed a ball to dance with, and did not need a team or a coach.

She went on to perform freestyle at cities around the world and also took on world class footballers like Ronaldinho and top Arsenal players at 'nutmeg' challenges, which attempts to slide the ball through the opponent's legs. In 2018, an 18-year-old Lisa was appointed the ambassador of PUMA Football brand. She often shares videos and pictures demonstrating her impressive skills that can give renowned professional footballers a run for their money. She has amasseD over 1.7 million followers on her Instagram profile.

Lisa Zimouche, who is only 19 years old now and is fresh out of school, has achieved more in the past few years than most teenagers her age can even imagine. Moreover, what differentiates her for the rest of the Instagram stars is that her millions of followers flock to her social media feeds to be awed by her extraordinary skills. To her credit, the young freestyler already has an impressive list of top-notch celebrities whom she has wowed with her footwork.

She was first seen playing together with Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba in August 2016. On February 13, 2017, she appeared alongside Arsenal players Granit Xhaka, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Hector Bellerin and Shkodran Mustafi in a video for a challenge organized by car manufacturer Citreon in which the football stars had to survive her 'nutmeg' skills. In the video, Chamberlain managed to catch the ball between his leg while Xhaka slipped and Mustafi lost the challenge as she successfully pushed the ball through his legs. Ten days later, she shocked Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho with her skills during his routine visit at Paris Saint-Germain, where he had played during his early career. She pretended to do odd jobs till he arrived at a corridor with hidden cameras installed, and as soon as someone passed her the ball, she began showcasing her moves that left the football icon speechless. A few months later, she played football with champion Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and then with Canadian rapper Drake.

In October 2017, she met Italian player Gianluigi Buffon for a friendly freestyle duel during which the Italian goalkeeper showed his skills with the ball as well, but was eventually nutmegged by her. Fortunately, despite earning fame at an early age, she has not lost her sense of purpose in life. She wants to travel all over the world to perform freestyle and also wants to build workshops in different places to "teach young people how to love the ball". Zimouche, who is aware of the male-dominated world of football, wants to focus on girls particularly to encourage them to freestyle and play street soccer.

Lisa Zimouche was born on June 29, 1999, in Paris, France into a family with Algerian roots. She has a sister named Safia. She began playing soccer when she was only seven years old, and started practicing freestyle at the age of 10. She continued to focus on freestyle, and her studies, throughout her school life. She was a youth player of Paris Saint Germain until she was 14.