Paris 2024: Ones to watch in blind football

With the countdown to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games well and truly in the final stages, our Sport Weeks provide you with the perfect guide to each of the competitions being contested in France.

To round off this week, here are the key players in blind football.

Abderrazak Hattab (Morocco)

Arguably Africa’s best blind footballer, he scored Morocco’s first-ever Paralympic goal at Rio 2016 when they became the first African side to compete at the Games. He followed that up by leading the team to more history when they beat China 4-0 to win bronze at Tokyo 2020.

Emre Aslan (Turkiye)

Aslan, who plays blind club football for Bundesliga side Schalke FC in Germany, was named Player of the Tournament at the 2022 European Championships as he helped Turkiye to the silver medal.

Frederic Villeroux (France)

A veteran of three Paralympic Games already, he was named Player of the Tournament twice as he led France to European gold in 2009 and silver in 2019. He also captained the team to Paralympic silver at London 2012.

Maximiliano Espinillo (Argentina)

The star striker of the reigning world champions is hoping to overcome Brazil to secure Argentina’s long-awaited Paralympic gold at Paris 2024, less than a year after beating their fierce rivals to the Parapan American title at Santiago 2023.

Raimundo ‘Nonato’ Mendes (Brazil)

The three-time Paralympic champion scored a stunning solo goal that made headlines around the world to help Brazil retain their blind football title at Tokyo 2020.

Ryo Kawamura (Japan)

Japanese player scored for the hosts on their Paralympic debut at Tokyo 2020 as they made history by beating European silver medallists France in their opening match.

Zhu Ruiming (China)

Part of the Chinese side that narrowly missed out on bronze at Tokyo 2020, Zhu will be aiming to help his country to a Paralympic podium following their silver medal at the 2023 Worlds.

Book your tickets for the Paralympic Games by visiting the Paris 2024 ticketing website.