Brazil and Argentina win to set up intriguing blind soccer final

The only two undefeated teams face off in battle of South America

Frolian Padilla, Argentina
Frolian Padilla and his Argentinian teammates will try to dethrone five-time champions Brazil in the Five-a-side Gold medal match at Tokyo on Saturday. Paralympics.org

As expected, Brazil and Argentina have won semi-final match-ups to force a South American final in blind soccer.

With both teams still undefeated, it sets up an intriguing contest between two sides that are fairly even based on statistics and overall play seen in Tokyo.

Brazil has yet to concede a goal this tournament as it defeated Morocco 1-0 in a nail-biter that was decided by an own goal by Moroccan captain Imad Berka.

Still significantly dominant, the Brazilians outshot Morocco 18 to eight while having 58-per-cent ball possession throughout the match.

Meanwhile, Argentinian goalkeeper German Muleck (all goalies are sighted) recorded his most important shutout yet as his team finished with a 2-0 win over China.

This scoreline somewhat flatters Argentina, though, as China proved to be its most difficult competitor so far in this year’s Paralympics.

The Chinese created nine shots against a solid Argentinian defence compared to only seven attempts by the South Americans.

Seven attempts led to the seventh goal of the tournament for Maximiliano Espinillo, who scored both in his third multi-goal performance in Tokyo.

With only 47 per cent of the ball in the semi-final, Argentina may have gotten some unexpected training ahead of the final against a Brazilian team that plays possession-style soccer, and has the ability to do so against most opponents.

Much like Canada vs United States in North America, this final match-up is a classic rivalry that exists throughout any sport where these two teams meet. That only amplifies the excitement around the contest.

After their defeats, China and Morocco face off for bronze Friday at 10:30 p.m. EST., while the highly anticipated gold medal match between Brazil and Argentina will kick off Saturday at 4:30 a.m. EST.

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Posted: Sep 2 2021 1:48 pm
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Filed under: Parasports Soccer Sports Tokyo Paralympics
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