Spain head to semis at blind football European Champs

With a ticket to the semi-finals at stake, Spain found a way to pull through at the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) Blind Football European Championships on Wednesday (26 August) in Hereford, Great Britain.

The defending champions overcame France with a 1-0 victory in the group-B finals and the win pitches Spain against Turkey on Friday (28 August).

Following a scoreless first half, Spain’s Javier Munoz beat two Frenchmen to score from close range. France pushed their men forward on the offense, trying to get back in and knowing that if they did not score, a positive result for Russia vs. Greece later in the day could knock them out. Despite France’s efforts, the Spanish defence held strong.

France fell out of contention for the finals after Russia’s Dimos Zaharos scored an early goal that eventually gave his team the 1-0 win over Greece and advanced his team to the semi-finals.

The result sets Russia up against Great Britain, who defeated Turkey 2-1 in Wednesday’s group-A action. The two had already landed their spots in the semi-finals when entering the final round-robin match. But it was Turkey’s opportunity to blemish perfect British record at the tournament.

Hasan Satay got things started for Turkey, scoring the first goal with 5:32 remaining in the half. It was also the first goal scored against the British, but Roy Turnham found the net for his fourth goal in the tournament. Dan English then weaved through the Turkish defence to score the game winner with less than one minute remaining.

Wednesday’s matches also included a victory from Germany, who edged Italy 1-0.

Follow results and action at the IBSA Blind Football European Championship event Facebook page, and also on Twitter @BlindEuros.

Day five results:

Spain 1, France 0 – Group B

Germany 1, Italy 0 – Group A

Russia 1, Greece 0 – Group B

Great Britain 2, Turkey 1 – Group A

Day four results:

Spain 0, Russia 0 – Group B

Italy 3, Poland 0 – Group A

Belgium 2, Greece 0 – Group B

Great Britain 2, Germany 0 – Group A

Day three results:

Russia 0, Belgium 0 – Group B

Turkey 3, Italy 0 – Group A

France 1, Greece 0 – Group B

Germany 2, Poland 0 – Group A

Day two results:

Spain 2, Greece 0 – Group B

Turkey 6, Poland 0 – Group A

France 1, Belgium 0 – Group B

Great Britain 4, Italy 0 – Group A

Day one results:

Great Britain 7, Poland 0 – Group A

Russia 1, France 0 – Group B

Spain 1, Belgium 0 – Group B

Turkey 0, Germany 0 – Group A