Blind football is booming: Annually, more than 10,000 spectators go to watch the Bundesliga (DBFL), Europe’s only national football league for blind and visually impaired footballers. Now, the best blind football players aim to raise awareness of the game involving the rattle-ball. Germany’s national team will fly to Tokyo today, where the World Championship begins on Sunday. It’s the first time Germany’s blind footballers have qualified for the finals.
“During our preparations we have established a strong defensive set-up,” said Alexander Fangmann. “I’m confident that we will prevail from our group.” The 29-year-old, who lost his eyesight at the age of eight, is Germany’s captain. He has made 34 national team appearances and just weeks ago led MTV Stuttgart to their fifth DBFL championship, which is promoted by the DFB’s Sepp Herberger Foundation. “Our aim is to beat South Korea; we’d then need to get at least a point against Spain and Argentina,” explains Fangmann. “If that happens, we should be able to book a quarter-final spot.”
Germany’s opponents: South Korea, Spain and Argentina
Germany manager Ulrich Pfisterer has a much larger pool of players to choose from compared with previous years, where many of their players came from record champions Stuttgart. Alongside three Stuttgart players, Pfisterer has selected players from Dortmund, St. Pauli, Marburg and Berlin for the tournament. Either Kofi Osei from Viktoria Berlin or Alican Pektas from Blau-Gelb Marburg will start in attack, both are dangerous strikers with plenty of experience. Vedat Sarikaya, one of Germany’s best marksmen, is unavailable due to a suspension.
The opening match will be against South Korea on Sunday. On Tuesday they face Spain in Tokyo; the last group match will be on Thursday (20th November) against Argentina. The structure of the tournament means Germany will know what they need to do ahead of the final match. The top two teams of each group qualify alongside the two best third-place finishers: “When we play Argentina, we will know exactly if a draw or a narrow defeat would be enough.”
Blind football is booming: Annually, more than 10,000 spectators go to watch the Bundesliga (DBFL), Europe’s only national football league for blind and visually impaired footballers. Now, the best blind football players aim to raise awareness of the game involving the rattle-ball. Germany’s national team will fly to Tokyo today, where the World Championship begins on Sunday. It’s the first time Germany’s blind footballers have qualified for the finals.
“During our preparations we have established a strong defensive set-up,” said Alexander Fangmann. “I’m confident that we will prevail from our group.” The 29-year-old, who lost his eyesight at the age of eight, is Germany’s captain. He has made 34 national team appearances and just weeks ago led MTV Stuttgart to their fifth DBFL championship, which is promoted by the DFB’s Sepp Herberger Foundation. “Our aim is to beat South Korea; we’d then need to get at least a point against Spain and Argentina,” explains Fangmann. “If that happens, we should be able to book a quarter-final spot.”
Germany’s opponents: South Korea, Spain and Argentina
Germany manager Ulrich Pfisterer has a much larger pool of players to choose from compared with previous years, where many of their players came from record champions Stuttgart. Alongside three Stuttgart players, Pfisterer has selected players from Dortmund, St. Pauli, Marburg and Berlin for the tournament. Either Kofi Osei from Viktoria Berlin or Alican Pektas from Blau-Gelb Marburg will start in attack, both are dangerous strikers with plenty of experience. Vedat Sarikaya, one of Germany’s best marksmen, is unavailable due to a suspension.
The opening match will be against South Korea on Sunday. On Tuesday they face Spain in Tokyo; the last group match will be on Thursday (20th November) against Argentina. The structure of the tournament means Germany will know what they need to do ahead of the final match. The top two teams of each group qualify alongside the two best third-place finishers: “When we play Argentina, we will know exactly if a draw or a narrow defeat would be enough.”
