Paris 2024: Brazil aim to extend reign as kings of blind football
Argentina among the teams aiming to inflict a first ever defeat on Fábio Vasconcelos’ all-conquering team 31 Aug 2024
Five-time champions Brazil will look to make more history when blind football kicks off in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.
The South American maestros have never lost a match in the competition since its introduction to the Games in 2004, winning five straight gold medals.
But every sporting dynasty much eventually be ended - could arch rivals Argentina, who have come close so many times, finally get one over their bitter rivals?
Eight men’s teams will take part in the 5-a-side tournament, split between two groups. In group A, Brazil will face hosts and European Champions France, Euro silver medallists Turkiye, and Asian champions China.
In group B, current World and Americas champions Argentina take on African champions and Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists Morocco, debutants Colombia, and Tokyo 2020 hosts Japan.
The top two in each group progress to the semi-finals. Each squad comprises of a maximum of eight outfield players and two goalkeepers.
Five stories to follow…
The ‘Paralympic Pele’ goes again
Brazil is a country consumed by football, and while its senior men’s international side have fallen short at recent World Cups, their Para brothers have preserved the country’s soccer reputation.
Spearheading their brilliance is Jefferson Goncalves Mizael Oliveira – aka Jefinho, or the ‘Paralympic Pele’. Renowned for his speed and skill, Jefinho has won four golds on the trot, and is now gunning for his fifth, and his country’s sixth.
“We look forward to future titles, and we want Brazil to remain the only Paralympic champion in the world,” he said recently. “We won’t give up our hegemony that easily.”
With coach Vasconcelos bringing in plenty of new ideas to an outfit that already has an invincible Para aura, the world has been warned.
Argentina’s big chance
Whisper it, but Brazil’s biggest rivals have got their best chance yet to capture a football gold medal that has eluded them for two decades. Argentina were beaten in the debut 2004 final – by Brazil – got bronze in 2008 and 2016, and lost the final (again to Brazil) in 2020 – an agonising 1-0 defeat for a country that had gone unbeaten all tournament and only conceded two goals in total.
In recent clashes, however, they have got the better of their South American counterparts. They won the equivalent of the World Cup – at the 2023 IBSA World Games in Birmingham, UK, where Ignacio Oviedo and Nahuel Heredia smashed penalties to defeat China in a tense final.
The also bettered Brazil at the America Cup. It won’t be easy, but this feels like their time.
Time for Africa?
African champions Morocco made blind football history at Tokyo 2020, when they became the first team from their continent to make it onto a Paralympic podium in the sport, claiming bronze. They defeated an excellent China side 4-0 in that third place playoff.
The brilliant Zouhair Snisla is the heartbeat of this Morocco team - after making his debut at Rio 2016 aged 17, he scored eight times in Tokyo. We are confident of winning another medal,” he said. “Our first goal is to have first place because as you’ve seen in Tokyo, we have played well. We can beat the likes of Brazil.”
Making home advantage count…
Like most Olympic and Paralympic hosts, France have been pouring their energies into ensuring that they succeed on home soil. It would certainly be a huge moment to win gold at arguably France’s most iconic landmark, and manager Toussaint Akpweh is bullish going into the tournament.
“For almost five years, we have been working with rigour and determination to regain our place in the world elite of football for the blind,” he said. “The first results began to emerge in 2019 by finishing runner-up at the Europe Championship. Then, in 2022, we progressed by becoming European champions. The rest, we will write in Paris.”
As for playing in front of the Tower? “The feelings are both pride and responsibility.”
Battle for the Golden Boot
Who will be the tournament’s top scorer? Morocco’s Zouhair Snisla will be fancied by many after top-scoring at the last Paralympics (he got eight, including four in the bronze medal match), while Brazil’s Raimundo Mendes led their line brilliantly in Tokyo.
China’s Zhu Ruiming and Argentina’s ‘panzer tank’, Maximiliano Espinillo, are also likely to feature. Both are ruthless in front of goal. “In these kinds of matches, the most important thing is to take advantage of all the chances we can get,” said Espinillo. “100 per cent efficiency is what we expect.”
