FANS FROM CALLAO SHOWTHEIR SUPPORT TO PERUVIAN GOALBALL NATIONAL TEAM

Every move of the women’s goalball national team made the crowd at Miguel Grau Coliseum excited, and they did not stop cheering on their national team during its match against Mexico. The Mexican team was winning 10-3 this match on the third competition day in the group stage of this sport discipline, created exclusively for people with visual impairment.

As soon as the event started, the Mexican trio was going ahead in the score.  Within the first 43 seconds, Tania Jiménez scored 1-0 for the Mexican team, while the Peruvian team did its very best to control the throws. However, despite their efforts, Mexico won 4-2 the first half.

At half time, all the fans stood up and started singing the classic “Cómo no te voy a querer”. They cheered and gave some words of support to the Peruvian Para athletes. The second half started with a goal scored by the Mexican María Angulo⁠— the top scorer of the match with four points⁠—, while the Peruvian Milagros Cotrina pulled off 5-3.

In the last minutes of the competition, the Mexican goalball players scored 5 more points, making a final score of 10-3 in their favor. As for Peru’s next competition, the national team will face off Brazil tomorrow, August 28, in the fourth match of the group stage.

Goalball: the sport born for people with visual impairment

Its origins date back to 1946, when this sport was created for people with visual impairment as part of a rehabilitation project for World War II veterans.

This discipline has been practiced in our country for about three years, but it was not until Lima 2019 that Peru finally entered both men’s and women’s team for the first time in the history of the Parapan American Games.

Goalball is a Parapan American sport consisting of two teams of six players each: three first team players and three substitutes, who are positioned in front of the goal to defend and try to score goals.

The court is similar to the one used in volleyball (18 meters long and 9 meters wide), with a goal on each side of the field and, as a main requirement, players must wear eyeshades to block the light.

The match lasts 24 minutes, and it is divided into two 12-minute halves with a 3-minute half time. The ball is made of rubber, weights 1.250 grams, and has bells inside that help players find it as they only have 8 seconds to shoot the ball. 

Matches are played in absolute silence, in order to allow players to hear the sound of the ball while it slides over the field of play