The history of football in the Paralympic Games is recent and can be divided into two parts. Football 7-a-side, for athletes with cerebral palsy, premiered in 1984 while football 5-a-side, for blind athletes, entered the programme at the Athens 2004 Games. Since then, Brazil has dominated the discipline with five athletes on the field, while Ukraine and Russia have shared the titles in football 7-a-side in the last four editions of the Paralympic Games.

In the competition for blind athletes, the Brazilians won their third consecutive title after a 2-0 victory over France last year in London. Severino Gabriel da Silva, nicknamed Bill, who scored the first goal in the decisive match on a penalty kick, said in an exclusive interview with rio2016.com that despite Brazil’s hegemony and the fact they will be playing at home, the fourth title will be the hardest to win in his career.

“The competition in London was very tough. Everyone is improving and training to end our supremacy in the sport. China is playing captivating football with a very strong defence. Argentina and France have improved a lot in recent years. In 2016 we will have the support of the fans, a big advantage, but the pressure will be much greater. We are working seriously, but I believe that winning the fourth championship will be a very complicated task”, said the 30-year-old player, who was born in the Brazilian state of Paraíba.

Bill first played on the football 5-a-side team in 2003, when the team managed to classify for the Athens Paralympic Games by beating Colombia 2-1, after being 1-0 down. He participated in Brazil’s three victories in the world’s greatest sports event for people with disabilities and has achieved some memorable feats, such as the title-winning goal at the Rio 2007 Pan American Games.

“It was a great goal. It was so beautiful that it was shown on Fantástico (a Sunday programme on TV Globo) for two weekends in a row”, recalls Bill, who also scored the only goal in the qualifying match for the semi-finals at London 2012 against Argentina. “It was a penalty kick. Everyone else missed theirs, but I kicked the ball into the net”.

Ricardinho, from the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and Jefinho, from Bahia, also played decisive roles in the victory in London. Ricardinho was awarded a penalty, which Bill successfully took, and Jefinho scored the second goal in the final. Barring some unforeseen event, both will be on the field at the Rio 2016™ Games and they expect to win.

“I first played on the team at the age of 15. I participated in the victories of 2008 and 2012 and I hope to remain at a high level until 2016. However, winning a world championship is hard and repeating the feat is even harder. Imagine winning four times in a row!” said Ricardinho. “All the games in London were very hard. Our group is very strong and we always make an extra effort in decisive matches. However, we have to continue improving since the entire world wants to dislodge Brazil”, said Jefinho.

The Brazilian football 5-a-side team has been training since the start of the year to remain on top in 2016. Former goalkeeper Fábio, who is now the coach, meets with the athletes every month at the Niterói Association for People with Physical Disabilities (Andef) for a week of training. The next meeting will be from 16 to 23 June. “We train in two groups every day. This year we won a tournament in Japan and another in Mexico, so we’re on the right track”, said Ricardinho.

Football 7-a-side

Ukraine also had the chance to win its third Paralympic victory in a row at London 2012, but in football 7-a-side, for athletes with cerebral palsy. However, in a duel involving the two largest countries on the European continent, Russia beat the Ukrainian team 1-0, thanks to a goal by Eduard Ramonov. The match on 9 September wrapped up the competitions for medals at the London Paralympic Games.

The discipline entered the Games programme in 1984, when Belgium beat Ireland 1-0. The Netherlands won the three following editions, at Beijing 1988, Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996. Russia, at Sydney 2000 and London, and Ukraine, with the titles of 2004 and 2008, complete the list of champions.

Brazil has won two medals since Barcelona 1992, when it first competed in the competition. It won bronze at Sydney 2000 with a 2-1 victory over Portugal and silver at Athens 2004. Last year, in London, the Brazilian team lost the bronze medal to Iran in a match that ended 5-0, with outstanding performances by Rasoul Atashafrouz and Farzad Mehri, who each scored two goals.