It is one of the highlights of these Paralympic Games. The French blind football team won its first gold medal in this event on Saturday evening by dominating Argentina in a final that was decided in suspense (1-1, 3-2 on penalties).
Beyond the wonderful images of joy of the players and the public, and the spectacular scenario, what is striking is the quite fantastic level of play offered by these blind people. Like the magnificent goal in the final by the star of the Blues, Frédéric Villeroux.
“Can’t catch the ball”
This “crazy” performance led Raymond Domenech to remember a meeting between the Blues of Cécifoot and the French A team, the suitcases team, of which he was the coach. “This sport is fabulous,” Domenech said on the set of L’Equipe du Soir. “We had practiced it with the French team, we had the experience of playing against them. We had brought them over. It was impossible to catch the ball.”
“We don’t know how they do it, even to locate themselves in space, admires Domenech. We had players running in the opposite direction. We stopped after five minutes, they were so ridiculous.”
