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Australia’s Bilbies blind football team will need to overcome the elements as well as their opponents if they are to reach their goals at the Asia-Pacific Championships, which start in Kochi, India on Wednesday.
The seven-player squad trained together at a camp at Paralympics Australia’s high performance facility at The Hangar in Melbourne in late October and have since been building their fitness and skills locally in preparation for the tournament, which is set to feature a record number of countries.
Conditions in Kochi will test the players’ stamina, with expected temperatures above 30 degrees and 75 percent humidity.
“For a while now (blind) football has been very professional and the athletes are very fit,” Australian Blind Football National Manager Dave Connolly said.
“Our team will have to manage that. They’ll have to be good on the football side but also with their fitness to be able to match the better teams in the tournament.”
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The Australian squad is highly motivated but lean on experience. Only vice-captain Brendan Spencer and goalkeeper Nathan Meneses have played overseas, so the pair along with long-time coach Igor Negrao will be key to the side navigating through the competition.
Connolly said a top-four or five finish would be a great achievement “but the most important thing is just going to be their performance and those important milestones, like the first goal or first win. That’ll do good things for their morale in such a big tournament.
“It’s looking like being the biggest Asia-Oceania Championships yet, with teams from 10 countries.
“Previously the biggest was eight teams, so it’s exciting that there are more countries in this region looking to develop in the sport, getting a national team going.”
Powerhouses China and Iran will look to continue their domination, while Japan and Thailand could challenge.
By participating in the Asia-Oceania Championships, the Bilbies will earn the Oceania slot at the World Championships, to be held as part of the International Blind Sports Federation World Games in Birmingham in August 2023.
“It makes this tournament a really good opportunity for us to learn and keep improving,” Connolly said.
“If you finish high enough at the World Champs, you get to go to Paris.”
Blind football, formerly known as football 5-a-side, has been on the Paralympic program since Athens 2004, but Australia has never qualified. Brazil has won all five gold medals since the sport’s introduction.
At Tokyo 2020, Brazil beat Argentina in the final 1-0.
The Bilbies Squad:
Amir Abdi
Brendan Spencer
Isaiah Muller
Nizamuddin Azimi
Shahram Jazan
Christine Casey
Nathan Meneses (GK)
Staff:
Igor Negrao (Coach)
Stephen Murray (Assistant Coach)
Ankit Singh (Team Manager)
Bess Hepworth (Goal Guide)
Olivia Muller (Kit Manager)
By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia
Posted 8 November 2022
