Anyone who watched the beach volleyball tournament at the Olympic Games will immediately have images of the fantastic party atmosphere around the stadium at the Eiffel Tower in their minds. Paralympics Blind football will now take place there – but the atmosphere will be a little different.
The stands must be absolutely quiet so that the players can understand each other’s commands. Nevertheless, the entire setting is of course unique. Fans can look forward to a great event, where the big favorite may face more competition than usual this time.
Who is the nation that has won every gold medal since the Paralympic premiere in Athens in 2004 and has remained undefeated? We are talking about football-mad Brazil.
It all depends on the support
The beginnings of blind football in Brazil go back over 60 years. There have been organized tournaments since the 1960s. In 1998, the first World Championship took place in Campinas, Brazil, with the host team beating Argentina in the final. The promotion of blind football in Brazil is extensive, and a life as a blind football professional is possible.
“The Brazilians have a great youth program. The junior national team is currently being prepared for the Paralympics in Los Angeles in 2028 and is actually already at world-class level,” says Sven Gronau. The goalkeeper of the blind football team of FC St. Pauli is in Paris himself and will follow the tournament.
In order to promote inclusion, the Brazilian labor market has a quota system that requires a certain number of people with disabilities to be employed. To avoid penalties, many companies therefore employ top para-athletes who are only employees on paper. The advantage: the athletes can concentrate fully on their sport. The downside: disabled people who do not make it into top-level sport have a much harder time finding a job.
Another mundane but mundane reason why Brazil has so many good players is the health system. Due to poor medical care, there are more visually impaired people in Brazil than in industrialized countries like Germany.
Jogo Bonito, but blind
The Brazilians remain true to their identity in their style of play. It is the magic and the dribbling that make the Brazilian game so beautiful. “Players like Jefinho slalom around their opponents and then shoot the ball hard into the goal,” says Gronau. He himself once had the opportunity to play against the man nicknamed the “Pelé of blind football.” Another top star of the team is Ricardinho.
The exceptional player has dominated blind football for years, and in 2016 he scored the golden goal that secured Paralympic victory at the home games in Rio. He was absent from the last World Cup in England, which led to Argentina taking the title. He is back in Paris and is aiming for the gold medal.
But this undertaking may not be as easy as history suggests. The tournament field is strong, and the other nations have caught up. “The competition has become greater. Argentina will have a chance, but I expect China in particular to be extremely strong,” predicts Gronau for the tournament that began on Sunday. “China has real machines on the field that are very well set up tactically. They move around like on a chessboard.” Japan and Colombia are also opponents that should not be underestimated.
The German team has not qualified for Paris. Gronau doubts whether participation in Los Angeles in 2028 would be possible: “I fear that the structures in Germany are not good enough to be able to raise a team to world-class level.”
However, a change in the format could bring new hope: “Germany would have a good chance in a women’s blind football tournament,” says Gronau. In Paris, only a men’s tournament will be played.
