The Selections make their last adjustments

For many people, Nantes is the land of “muscadet” (white wine), the city of “petit beurre” (biscuit), the land of adventure with Jules Verne, and the end of the long journey of the Loire to join the ocean.

Dynamic city, open to the world, today Nantes is a sports place where the European Blind Football nations meet.

Each team and particularly French team have been preparing for this date. We know very well the project of each team: win.

For some days, national selections have been settling and are getting their bearings. The first unofficial trainings have been taking place, with the search of a progressive increase in strength.

Everyone, B1 as well as B2/B3 players, knows what he has come for. Both categories that are so different in their way of practicing the game meet in selection groups with a same passion of football and a same project: show the result of their work and their progress.

Classifications

They are a compulsory step that allows the organization to validate, for each athlete, the restraints linked to the measuring of visual impairment so that it meets the requirements of each category : - from a tenth (maximum) in both eyes for B2/B3 to blindness for B1 category. For sure, these controls are made by ophtalmologists that are accredited by the International Federation, among which we find the French ophtalmologist Georges CHALLE.

We would like to thank the Clinique SOURDILLE of Nantes, that is specialized in ophtalmology for the quality of their equipment and the kindness of their staff.

First training for French Blind Football teams.

For B1 (blind people): on the mown grass, a fresh morning dew had settled but it didn’t last. We quickly understood that the team was progressively concentrating for the competition. Search of individual and collective serenity, fluidity in the game, concentration on the movements that have been repeated a thousand times, with clear emphatic and firm calls for the ball in order to accompany movement with voice. Meetings after training are becoming emotive. The group knows that it needs to convince with its game, with its qualities and to meet its supporters with its performance.

For B2/B3 (Visually impaired): Settling in the field of Beaulieu Sports Stadium. The team has been adjusting its different game animations with determination. The players that have now entered the adventure of this 2009 European Championship in Nantes show, with their movements and their compliance of the orders, their will to position French team amongst the best European nations.

The last winners of this trophy, Spain for B1 and Belarus for B2/B3, are the teams we need to beat. Other teams only have one goal in mind: defeat the champions.

B1 - 28 June Games
11:00	BIE	vs	RUS
16:00	FRA	vs	ITA
18:00	TUR	vs	ESP

B1 - Group 1 Rankings
Equipes	Pts	J	G	N	P	Dif
ESP	0	0	0	0	0	0
GRE	0	0	0	0	0	0
TUR	0	0	0	0	0	0
BIE	0	0	0	0	0	0
RUS	0	0	0	0	0	0

B1 - Group 2 Rankings
Equipes	Pts	J	G	N	P	Dif
FRA	0	0	0	0	0	0
ENG	0	0	0	0	0	0
ITA	0	0	0	0	0	0
ALL	0	0	0	0	0	0

B2B3 - 29 June Games
09:30	BIE	vs	IRL
11:00	ESP	vs	ITA
15:30	ENG	vs	FRA
17:00	UKR	vs	TUR

B2B3 - Group 1 Rankings
Equipes	Pts	J	G	N	P	Dif
BIE	0	0	0	0	0	0
ESP	0	0	0	0	0	0
IRL	0	0	0	0	0	0
ITA	0	0	0	0	0	0

B2B3 - Group 2 Rankings
Equipes	Pts	J	G	N	P	Dif
FRA	0	0	0	0	0	0
UKR	0	0	0	0	0	0
ENG	0	0	0	0	0	0
TUR	0	0	0	0	0	0

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