‘I can feel the electricity’: How blind football became the Paralympics’ unmissable show

France’s games, which are played out in total silence, are dominating the front and back pages after the hosts set up a sensational final against Argentina under the Eiffel Tower

France captain Frédéric Villeroux celebrates his winning goal in the semi-finals (Getty Images for IPC)

As surreal sights go it is worthy of André Breton. Under the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, in teeming rain, a capacity crowd sits in total silence transfixed on an unfolding five-a-side football match.

You can hear the birds chirping, distant sirens blaring and the rattle of the ball that enables the visually-impaired players to track it across the pitch.

The quiet only heightens the senses, as you stifle gasps and whisper your encouragement in reverential hushes.

And then, in the dying seconds, captain Frédéric Villeroux unleashes an unstoppable top corner piledriver from 15 yards. It books France their place in the Paralympic final and the temporary stands shake with such intensity you fear tectonic plates are shifting under the Rive Gauche.

Villeroux’s strike sent France through to the final (Getty Images for IPC)

Villeroux is France’s ‘talisman and leader’ (Getty Images for IPC)

You might have thought you’d seen it all during this storied summer in Paris, until you are part of a silent Mexican Wave at the cécifoot.

Or you’ve watched a noiseless penalty shoot-out, ended noisily when Brazil’s Alves clattered the post and ended his country’s 20 year unbeaten Paralympic run.

“There were many emotions when Frederic scored, I’ve never felt electricity like it, every sense felt alive, I can’t see but I can feel,” said French player Martin Baron, whose team will now face Argentina in Saturday’s final.

“Frédéric is our talisman, our leader and he deserves it. The celebration from the fans was incredible, we sense them with us. I want them to know we feel their support, and it is what is pushing us further.

“Football is the beautiful game and I think what we are doing here is even more beautiful, it’s the power of the possible.”

It’s 14 years since a bookmaker with a canny eye for a stunt commissioned an advert that saw a cat being kicked across a pitch after a blind player heard their bell and booted the helpless feline into row z.

We can’t get Tiddles back, chuckled the catchline, but here’s some money back offers on your weekend acca.

It was - deadpanned a member of the England team - at least the first time the sport had been on television, here France’s games are front page, back page and top of the hour.

The blind football competition is taking place in a spectacular setting (Getty Images for IPC)

However, Villeroux insists his ambition is not a medal - though that is now guaranteed - but to be finally taken seriously.

The French team are still exclusively amateur, Villeroux is a sports instructor in Marseille while his fellow players are lawyers, computer scientists and physiotherapists.

It’s all in contrast to Brazil, who hadn’t lost at the Paralympics since the sport was introduced in Athens two decades ago and where the players are household names.

As you’d expect, they have a team packed with talent, the ageing veteran Jefinho is dubbed ‘Paralympic Pele’ and has come a long way since playing football alone in the streets as a child outside his home in Candeias and then there’s master dribbler Nonato with his silky-smooth viral skills and defensive rock Tiago.

However, throughout these Games there were signs others are no longer quite so awed by their hard-earned reputation and after finishing their semi-final 0-0 after two 15-minute halves, they lost the penalty shoot-out 4-3 to the arch South American rivals.

Argentina ended Brazil’s reign with victory in the semi-finals (Getty Images for IPC)

“It is a dream to play against Brazil, but when I took that ball to hit the penalty, it felt like it weighed a thousand kilos,” said Osvaldo Fernandez.

“The tension was incredible. I hit it and I didn’t know if it went in or not. When I realised it did, I felt great relief more than anything.”

When football is played in near total silence, you can quickly identify the different player characteristics - the back chatter, the serial moaner, the relentless encourager. Argentina’s Froilan Padilla is all three and so loud you could hear him from across the Seine.

“My little ones, as I call my teammates, made me really happy,” he said.

“They never stopped running. They left everything on the pitch. They always tell me I yell too much, I can’t stop talking from defence, and it’s true. I know I can be unbearable but I love them and they know it.”

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