ANKARA
The head of sports for the visually impaired in Turkey on Monday congratulated the country’s blind football team on becoming European champions.
Abdullah Cetin, president of the Turkish Blind Sports Federation, told Anadolu Agency the squad’s success was even more notable because it was achieved with inexperienced players.
“We entered the championship with young players,” he said. “We played a final for the first time and won the title.”
By reaching the final in Hereford, U.K., the Turkish squad qualified for the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro next year.
“Our goal was to play in the final,” Cetin said. “In addition, we wanted to be in Rio. We did it. We had a comfortable win against Russia.”
Turkey was among 10 teams competing in the European Championship that began on Aug. 22.
The team progressed to the final on Saturday by beating Poland and Italy in their group and drawing against Germany. They came second in the group after they lost to England, facing Spain in the semi-final, which they won 2-0.
The Turkish side secured the trophy with a 1-0 victory over Russia.
Blind football is played between five-a-side teams over two halves of 25 minutes. Players, who are either totally blind or who wear blacked-out goggles if they are partially sighted, can be guided by instructions shouted from off-pitch. The ball is fitted with internal bells to allow the players to judge its position by sound.
Omer Gursoy, chairman of the Turkish Football Federation’s handicapped coordination committee, added: “Before the joining the championship we said that we would be in the final because our youth system is the strongest one.
“Winning the European title is not a big surprise for us. It's not a coincidence. We reap the harvest of the system that we established.”
The victorious squad will attend Turkey’s Euro 2016 qualifier against the Netherlands in Konya on Sept. 6.
