Paralympic Games: the cecifoot, or the story of good communication
Brazilian Jefinho in the final against France in 2012 in London.
AFP - BEN STANSALL
Text by: Farid Achache Follow
6 mins
For its entry into the competition, France lost to the host country this Sunday, August 29 in Tokyo, at the Aomi Urban Sports Park (4-0).
The cecifoot which made its debut in Athens in 2004 is one of the three sports on the Paralympic program reserved for athletes with a visual impairment.
Without good communication, it is impossible to hope to win during the matches as explained by the members of the France team.
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From our special correspondent in Tokyo,
How to play football without eyes?
The question should be on the minds of all football fans.
In Tokyo
, under an oppressive heat, where even the few people in the stands seem to suffer from this almost "tropical" humidity, the players four field players of the France team and the goalkeeper have to bear a black blindfold over their eyes, and that feeling of being immersed in a pizza oven.
Participating in the Paralympic Games is priceless.
Placement and technical work
Without vision, you have to appeal to another sense: hearing. Recognize the instructions in this hubbub, between the coach, the goalkeeper (the only light of the team), the teammates, the cries of the opposing team, the whistles of the referee, or the permanent shocks on the panels which are used to delimit the playing area, seems for the common people more complicated than to pilot a plane in zone of turbulence.
"
The cecifoot, it's
" total "
football,
" echoes Charly Simo, sports director of the France team, himself a former professional footballer among the able-bodied.
“
We learn a lot to see these athletes move on the field.
We are not aware of the hours of training behind.
All the work of placement, of technique, takes a considerable amount of time.
A traditional football player who came to play with them blindfolded would take a great lesson in life,
”he said.
Listen to each other to hope to score
Without communication, a cecifoot team is unable to perform well with this ball which makes a sound of bells while rolling.
“
They will bump into each other and will not know how to be on the ground,
” explains Charly Simo.
“
The field is divided into three areas: defense, midfield and offense.
When the ball is in the defensive zone, it is the goalkeeper who gives the information, in the middle zone, it is the coach.
In the offensive zone, it is the guide who is behind the goal,
”says Jérémy Sufisseau, the goalkeeper for the
Blues
, who is dripping with sweat after this mixed entry into the tournament against the Japanese.
“
Yes, there is a lot of communication in cecifoot and it is true on the ground.
We don't need to see each other, we just need to get along
, says defender Hakim Arezki.
We take the information and then analyze it.
There is a lot of information coming to us, but at the moment T, we take the one that concerns us.
Then, we forget it very quickly to settle on another.
It's a matter of habit
.
"
Brazil and its professionals
"
There is more enthusiasm for our discipline, and it is a little more relayed by the media
", welcomes Charly Simo, who takes care of his players during the cool breaks.
“
Many large countries have taken the lead over France,
” he adds.
In decline since London 2012, the football of the blind in France is restructuring in depth and wants to use Tokyo as a springboard for the Paris 2024 Games. In London, the French had left the banks of the Thames, failing in final against Brazil, world benchmark.
Then there was the non-participation in the Rio 2016 Games and a place of red lantern at the World Cup in 2018.
It is certain, compared to Brazil, where the discipline was born in the Sixties, there is an important step to cross.
Brazilian players have won gold every time since the sport was introduced.
"Jefinho", the "Pelé of the Paralympics"
In Ronaldo's country, cecifoot players are professionals.
“Jefinho” is considered one of the best footballers of his generation and is nicknamed the “Pelé of the Paralympics”.
Above all, the pool is much larger.
In France, medicine has evolved.
Fortunately, there is less and less blindness and above all, the social system protects, unlike in Brazil.
In most Latin American countries, a blind person has to work in order to live well.
There, the handicap is inevitable, being a cecifoot player allows you to get out of it.
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