The football team for people with cerebral palsy (CP) debuted with victory in the World Championship of the sport, held in Salou (Spain). This Sunday (10), the Brazilians thrashed Canada 4-0, in the opening of Group B of the competition.
The goals were scored by Evandro de Oliveira (twice), Dudu Felipe and Heitor Luiz. Brazil returns to play this Tuesday (12), at 11am (Brasília time), against England. On Thursday (14), at 8:30 am, the team concludes its participation in the first phase against Japan. The first two in the group will go to the quarterfinals. The matches are broadcast live on International Football Federation for Cerebral Palsy (IFCPF) channel on YouTube.
Second best team in the world in the sport, according to the world ranking, Brazil is looking for an unprecedented title. The team hit the goalposts in 2003 and 2013, when they finished runner-up. In the last edition, in 2022, also held in Salou, the Brazilians won the bronze medal. Ukraine is the current champion.
The modality
In PC football, athletes are divided into classes FT1, FT2 and FT3 (the lower the category number, the greater the physical-motor impairment). Each team must use at least one FT1 among its starters. Furthermore, only one FT3 per team is allowed to be on the pitch.
Each game time is 30 minutes. The teams have seven athletes on each side (the sport used to be called seven-a-side football). The measurements of the field (70 meters by 50 meters) and the goal (two meters by five meters) are also different from the “conventional” modality. Furthermore, there is no offside in PC football and a throw-in can be made with just one hand.
