The Blues of blind football are Paralympic champions! The French, carried by their number 10 Frédéric Villeroux and cheered on by the Parisian crowd, beat the Argentinians on penalties (1-1, 3-2 on penalties) in the final this Saturday, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. The French team thus won the first Paralympic gold medal in its history, twelve years after the silver obtained at the London Games.
Girondin Frédéric Villeroux, considered one of the best players in the world, will remain one of the big stars of this fantastic epic, which he concluded himself by scoring the winning penalty, after opening the score in the first half. Enough to capsize the Stade de la Tour Eiffel, packed to the rafters for the occasion, and allow France to win a 19th gold medal.
The Blues were also able to count on the good reflexes of the goalkeeper, Alessandro Bartolomucci, who managed to push away one of the Argentinian shots on goal.
Frédéric Villeroux, Hakim Arezki, Khalifa Youmé, Tidiane Diakité and Alsatian Benoit Chevreau thus achieved the feat of becoming the first country other than Brazil to win the competition, the Seleçao having won every edition since the discipline entered the Paralympic Games in 2004 in Athens. This year, the Brazilians were beaten in the semi-final by the Argentinians.
