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Beyond the dark
The Greek national blind football team is one of the best in the world. Since 1997 when it was formed, it has won 3rd place in 1997, 2nd in 1999 and 3rd again in the 2001 European games. In the 1998 world cup in Brazil they came 6th. The players come from the local teams of Thessaloniki and Athens and despite their victories they still don't have a proper football ground to train in.
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They train in mini football grounds loaned to them by private sponsors, and from time to time they get together to play in friendly matches. When they are on the field it is difficult to see their blindness. They run after a special ball that has little pieces of metal inside so that it makes noise. The only ones that can see are the goalkeepers. The rest (4 players for each team) are completely blind.
They know their space well and their blindness becomes a less important issue, amazing every sighted spectator.
Niki Christodoulou
Greece 2002
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