Great Britain hold Spain to a 1-1 draw in football 5-a-side

"You can’t win a championship in your first game and we haven’t lost today so we’re happy."

Hosts Great Britain held World Cup silver medalists Spain to a 1-1 draw on day one of competition at the Riverbank Arena.

British captain David Clarke netted the equaliser moments after Spain’s Antonio Martin converted a successful penalty kick.

Clarke turned his defender, composed himself and chipped a shot into the bottom corner to level the scores just before half time.

Martin had converted after midfielder Marcelo Carrasco Rosado was tripped in the six-yard area, with the power of his shot forcing a goal despite goalkeeper Lewis Skyers getting a hand to his effort.

After the break, Great Britain were full of confidence and pushed to find a winner, but the scores remained equal.

Clarke said: "Spain didn’t really cause us too many problems, but we were not as accurate as we would have liked to have been. You can’t win a championship in your first game and we haven’t lost today so we’re happy."

Earlier in the day, France shared a point with defending champions Brazil in a thrilling 0-0 draw between the two continental champions.

David Labarre and Abderrahim Maya kept top goalscorers Jeferson and Ricardo off the scoresheet while striker Frederic Villeroux concerned the Brazilians in front of goal.

Villeroux broke through the defence at various stages in the game but was unable to hit the target.

His strike partner Martin Baron could have put the European champions ahead, stretching his leg to try to flick the ball past Brazilian goalkeeper Ribeiro de Vasconcelos.

Ricardo piled the pressure on the French defence and could have scored the winner in the closing moments. He dribbled with great control into the area and fired an angled shot, but the Riverbank crowd gasped as Jonathon Grangier tipped the ball inches past the post.

Brazil will be happy that they maintained their record of not conceding a goal in 11 matches.

Turkey and Iran made their Paralympic debuts in the competition, with Iran almost scoring their first ever goal in a 2-0 defeat to Argentina.

Iran were awarded a penalty with a minute left to play. Hossein Pour Rajab took the kick but the Argentine keeper Dario Lencina pushed it out of play.

Silvio Velo scored both goals for ‘Los Murceilagos’ in the second half.

Iran refused to back down from their experienced opponents by creating a couple of chances in the first half.

David Peralta could have opened the scoring as the ball fell to him in the area, but his off balance shot was wide of the target.

Velo took control of the game in the second half, blasting both shots into the roof of the net to seal the victory.

Finally, Turkey were overwhelmed by Beijing silver medalists China in a 4-0 defeat. Zheng Wenfar claimed two goals, Xiaoqiang Li added a penalty kick and Yafeng Wang completed a comprehensive win for the 2008 runners up.