Blind football is played at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. A glimpse of a sport between party and devotion.
The stands of the Stade Tour Eiffel are filled to capacity in the hot Parisian midday sun. The fans in the makeshift steel stands set up on one side of the Champs-de-Mars try to wave fans in France's national colors in the hope of at least cooling off a little. But the sweating is rewarded with a view of a spectacular backdrop.
Where the women's and men's beach volleyball tournaments were held during the Olympic Games, blind football is now the order of the day. The sand where Tanja Hüberli and Nina Brunner won bronze is still there, but covered by a large blue carpet that forms the 40 m x 20 m playing field and is surrounded by boards.
Eight teams are taking part in this Paralympic tournament. Japan and Colombia will kick things off on Sunday, followed by Morocco and Argentina. As with the sighted footballers, the "Albiceleste" are the reigning world champions. The Argentinians won the title last year in Birmingham on penalties against China, causing a surprise.
Because a great rival is actually the measure of all things in blind football. Brazil are five-time world champions. However, the Seleçao's dominance becomes really clear on the Paralympic stage. Blind football has been part of the program since 2004 in Athens, and the Brazilians have never lost a match. On Sunday evening, they embarked on their mission to win their sixth gold medal at the Paralympics with a commanding 3-0 win over Turkey. It is the 27th win in 27 games among the Paralympic Agitos.
The shots for the posts
So is blind football mainly samba and partying, like on the Copacabana? You might think so. But an inspection at the foot of the Eiffel Tower paints a different picture of this sport, which originated in Spain sometime in the 1920s. Four outfield players and a goalkeeper are on the pitch. To be allowed to play, all field players must be blind. They all cover their eyes with a blindfold.
The goalkeeper is the only one who can see or has only slightly impaired vision. This is essential because the goalkeeper has the important task of directing his teammates on the field, describing where the ball is and the best direction to run in order to get past the opponents.
The Colombian goalkeeper shouts "Izquierda", for example, when he tries to throw the ball as accurately as possible into the feet of a player, but it bounces off the edge of the box. Each team has placed a helper at the halfway line to help with orientation. And behind the goal to be attacked as well. When a free kick is taken, the helper takes out a stick and knocks on the two posts several times. The sound is intended to give the shooter a sense of where to shoot.
The fans' dilemma
The score between Colombia and Japan is 0-0. Whenever a player enters the danger zone or crashes heavily into the boards, a murmur goes through the stands, which is immediately stopped by a long, rushing "shhh". It is a dilemma with which the spectators are confronted. On the one hand, there is the desire to go along with the action, to cheer on the players, to clap when a dribble is successful, to shout out loudly and clap their hands over their heads when a ball whizzes just centimetres past the three-and-a-half-metre wide and two-metre high goal. Just like they know it from football.
On the other hand, they know that silence is an important element of blind football. It is essential for the players to be able to orient themselves on the pitch. This is achieved through the instructions of the goalies and helpers, but also through a bell that is incorporated into the ball and ensures that the ball can be heard. Sometimes the referee calls out "Silence", whereupon the announcer asks the 10,000 or so fans to be quiet.
Just seconds later, however, the same announcer can ask those present to make a "maximum de bruit", i.e. to be as loud as possible. This is when a team takes a timeout and dancers perform a choreography to songs by Macklemore and Taylor Swift.
So blind football is not just samba and Copacabana. It is a stark contrast between the loud, boisterous, continuous sound of a Bravo hits party and the devout silence in a huge cathedral that could hardly have been built in a more impressive location at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. The Paralympic champion will be crowned on Saturday.
