“Did the blind football final between France and Argentina live up to the triumph of these Paralympic Games?”three times “oui !”enthuses the British daily The Guardian.
Les Bleus made Paralympic history on Saturday night by winning gold for the first time against the Argentinians (1-1, 3-2 on penalties) in a heated atmosphere at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Since the discipline entered the Paralympic Games in 2004 in Athens, all the titles had been won by Brazil.
In Paris, all the parameters seemed to come together to offer spectators an exceptional final, notes the Guardian : the Marseillaise was “catchy”the sky has “obediently blushed as expected behind the Eiffel Tower stadium”the “afternoon rain” stopped in time, the stadium was full of fans singing at the top of their lungs, and the Eiffel Tower “lit up like a golden goddess behind the stadium at night”offering spectators what was undoubtedly “the most beautiful football setting in the world”. With all this, “France’s 3-2 victory on penalties was a bit like the cherry on the cake” of this final, the daily life is amused.
Argentines “two steps away from the gold medal”
The Murciélagos (the bats, nickname of the Argentine team) were nevertheless “a stone’s throw from the gold medal”underlines the Argentine daily Page/12.
Faced with an Argentinian side as threatening as the dark clouds gathering over the stadium as the match progressed, the Blues were the first to make the difference, thanks to Frédéric Villeroux. After a tight start to the match, the Girondin moved up the pitch with the ball at his feet, eliminating the defenders in front of him and deceiving the goalkeeper with a sudden low shot. But the French joy was short-lived as the Argentinians equalized seven seconds later thanks to Maximiliano Espinillo (12th).
The two teams were unable to separate within 30 minutes of regulation time, and had to play penalty kicks. During a blind football match, the guide of each team hits the metal posts on either side of the goal to allow the shooter to see the cage.
[…] - Courrier international
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