A month after Thierry Henry’s Les Bleus lost to Spain in the final at the Parc des Princes, the French blind football team won its tournament at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on Saturday evening at the Stade Tour Eiffel. A magnificent outcome for French blind football, in this dream stadium built at the foot of the Iron Lady, thanks to a penalty shootout won against Argentina. Almost two years after the final lost in Qatar against Lionel Messi’s Albiceleste!
The French put up a huge fight against the Argentinians, who were favourites for the final after eliminating Brazil, the champion of all the Paralympic five-a-side football tournaments for the visually impaired (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020!). The locals were able to count on a wild crowd when it could be (spectators must make as little noise as possible when the players are in action), with Lilian Thuram, Presnel Kimpembe and Gilbert Montagné in the stands.
A France-Argentina that goes well
Toussaint Akpweh’s players, who beat Colombia in the semi-finals (1-0), first opened the scoring through Frederic Villeroux, their captain and star striker, who was tasked with making the difference all by himself in each attacking move. But Maximiliano Espinillo equalised on the kick-off, kicking directly towards the French goal (12th)!
The decision was therefore made during a high-quality penalty shootout. Helped by their coach, who hit the two posts and shouted behind the goal to give the shooters direction, the French and Argentinian players made the nets shake. But the French goalkeeper Alessandro Bartolomucci (goalkeepers are clairvoyants in blind football) repelled the third Argentinian attempt and this same Frederic Villeroux, known as the “French Messi”, offered Olympic gold to his country!
