GB blind football team win place in Paralympic Games

By Paul Carter

Great Britain’s blind football team have qualified for next year’s Paralympics after reaching the final of the European Championships in Greece.

The team booked their place in Beijing despite losing 5-0 in the final to defending champions Spain, who they had held to a 3-3 draw earlier in the competition.

They had progressed to the final after a 2-1 semifinal win over France, thanks to two goals from striker Darren Harris, and a penalty shoot-out win over Italy in the quarter-finals.

GB coach Tony Larkin’s side have since moved up one place in the world rankings to fifth.

He said: “We came to Greece with two main aims. One was to make the final and therefore secure a Paralympics place and the second was to be European champions. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be, so we must now go away and work incredibly hard if we are to make an impact in Beijing.”

The team’s performance manager, Jeff Davis, said the experience the squad gained through competing in Greece would be of great benefit going into future tournaments.

“We have an emerging team with next year’s Paralympics, the World Blind Championships in England in 2010 and the Paralympics in London 2012 to look forward to. It is a very exciting time for our blind players,” he said.