Blind football rekindles the flame of French team sports

Blind football: the Blues will challenge Colombia in the semi-finals

Here is the wonderful little patch of blue sky for French team sports at these Paralympic Games. This Tuesday, by logically dominating Turkey (2-0), the French blind football team validated its ticket for the last four, confirming that their status as European champions in 2022 was no accident. A title that had been obtained at the time following a victory in the final against… the Turks. The Blues performed a repeat performance at the foot of the Eiffel Tower at the end of a match that they dominated from A to Z. Moreover, without an unlucky post or a shot just off target in the first five minutes, the score could have been higher.

But in the end, the opening goal was to be scored by Frédéric Villeroux with a personal exploit, the French playmaker recovering the ball all by himself like a great before going to shoot the opposing goalkeeper (5th). And in the second half, ten minutes from the end, Martin Baron sent a magnificent shot into the opposite top corner to make the break (2-0, 20th) and end the suspense, as Turkey failed to pose any danger to the goal guarded by Alessandro Bartolomucci. On Thursday, at 5:30 p.m., the Blues will challenge Colombia while the other semi-final will smell of champagne football with a match between Brazil – who had dominated the Blues in the group stage (0-3) – and Argentina.

Goalball: The Blues save their honour

For their first participation in the Paralympic Games in this discipline, the Blues fulfilled their contract by winning a match, the one for 7th place against Egypt (6-4). A success that delighted coach Vivien Fournier Dit Chabert. “We had two goals for these Games: to perform on the one hand and to promote our discipline, to give it the best possible image so that it can continue on the other hand. Before the match, I told the boys to enter the field with their chests out and smiles, to show that they wanted to be there. This victory finally comes at the best time. We were keen to finish in this way, they did it, I am very proud of them. Overall, I am quite satisfied with the competition.”

A legitimate satisfaction in view of a tournament where the French have never been ridiculous, notably during the inaugural defeat against the Brazilian world number 1s (5-8) or the narrow setback against the Americans, 4th in the global hierarchy (4-5). Only the quarter-final lost against China (2-12) was clearly so. There is no doubt that these Games should give a certain boost to goalball in France. For the women, surprisingly, the score was exactly the same as their male counterparts with a clear defeat against the Chinese (2-12). On Wednesday, the Blues will try to continue to imitate the men’s team by aiming for a victory synonymous with 7th place.

Sitting volleyball: the Blues take a new lesson

Unsurprisingly, the French team lost its last match of the group stage against the leaders China. A clear defeat, in three sets (7-25, 5-25, 5-25), reflecting a competition that is so complicated. Thus, neither against China, nor against Italy or the United States for their two previous defeats, did the Bleues manage to score even ten points in the same set. A cruel scenario, but logical for a team built from bits and pieces in view of these Paralympic Games. And their ordeal may not be over with a match for 7th place scheduled for Wednesday against Rwanda.