Bučovice Blind Football Cup 2015

"Where are you, Paul?" calls Michael. After hearing a short "Here", he plays the ball perfectly into Paul's feet. Paul runs a few dynamic steps towards the opponent's goal, draws three opponents to him and passes at the perfect time to the now free-standing Serdi on the right wing. He only has to stop for a moment. The ball comes to a stop right at his feet. Behind the goal, Rolf calls "six meters". Serdi knows what to do. He follows Rolf's voice and after a few steps slams the ball into the far corner. 1:0. The small final of the Bučovice Blind Football Cup 2015 is underway. I am definitely impressed by the quality of play of my team in brown and white. What reads so easily is the result of years of training and mutual trust. The players on the field cannot see anything during the action described.

Behind the seemingly unwieldy title “Bučovice Blind Football Cup 2015” lies a wonderful tournament weekend with blind footballers from all over the world. Eight teams from Germany, Belgium, Ireland, England, Greece, Brazil and the Czech Republic are fighting for a trophy that most of the team members will never see.

I became curious about blind football after “Frodo” from Übersteiger told me how he was doing. playing football blindfolded. A year and a half ago I was there Hall masters with my camera and immediately enthusiastic. Of all the physical limitations, the loss of sight is the worst thing I can imagine. After all, it would also limit my ability to take photographs, and I really enjoy doing that. Incidentally, I don't like the term "disability" that much. Just walk through a dark forest at night with a blind person: I'd like to hear from you again who the "disabled" person actually is.

Playing football blindly is certainly unimaginable for many people. That's why on the right is a very short video that I quickly recorded with my camera in the finale. It shows the 2-0 win by the Brazilian Jefinho, who is also a two-time Olympic champion. He only learned to play football when he was already blind. The Brazilians are the measure of all things in blind football.

I don't know of any sport where the inclusion could be greater. Young and old, men and women, sighted and non-sighted people play together in a team, everyone is dependent on one another. This creates a spirit that also leads to a wonderful working relationship across teams. This can be felt with every breath this weekend in the small Czech town of Bučovice, half an hour's drive from Brno. A large family meets again. Newcomers are warmly welcomed into their midst. So do I.

I had the pleasure of accompanying the blind footballers from FC St. Pauli to the Bučovice Blind Football Cup. I thank you for the open arms with which I was always welcomed, even if you don't get anything out of my work. "I heard you take great pictures. Unfortunately I can't see them." A sentence that I heard quite often. So my report also has a lot of sadness in it. The very people who make this sport so incredible cannot see my pictures of their great actions. The very people to whom I would like to give something back with my work for what they have given me cannot do anything with my work. I am currently very confused as to how I can resolve this conflict. An audio description would describe the content of the picture, but whether it is then a good picture is probably still very difficult to decide. This causes discussions even among sighted people.

In any case, here is a small selection of the 800 or so pictures I took that weekend...

The blind footballers from FC St. Pauli are ready to leave for Brno at Hamburg Central Station

I am given the welcome drink on the bus from Brno to Bucovice

When we arrive at the hotel, Katja greets Jitka

Paul studies the poster for the tournament

Dinner

evening walk to the tournament grounds

After the long train journey it's good to shoot a few balls

The game plan is studied over drinks in the evening

The opening ceremony begins. Sabir is there with his camera and is filming.

Participants from 7 countries

The Brazilians are committed to the first game

Brno loses 5 goals to 0 against the Brazilians. One of the better results against Bahia, even if Tomáš Bukovský is unhappy on the ground.

The people of Chemnitz are committed to the game against the Greeks.

The Chemnitz coach is dissatisfied with the performance of his players

Professional preparation of the St. Paulians before the game

Now the blind footballers from FC St. Pauli form a circle

Rolf gives helpful instructions behind the gate

Serdi leaves...

... and hits the Worcester team's goal

Serdi puts himself in the spotlight again against Worcester and hits the corner exactly

Michael is happy with a jump in the air

The youth band from FC St. Pauli celebrates their first victory. All field players in the picture are minors.

Russell Wheldon in the Worcester goal has no chance against a Greek shot (obscured)

The good soul of the tournament Jitka Graclíková gives everything as a guide…

...and shortly afterwards you have reason to be happy. Brno scores the decisive goal to make it 2-1 against Anderlecht

Jiří is happy about Mrázek's goal

Shaun from the Dublin team saves the penalty spectacularly

Paulian Paul tanks his way against two Greeks. His running style always reminds me of chess.

Everything is given in blind football: here a Greek player loses half a shoe

After the second game we had our first beer.

The next day, Serdi and Michael tinkered with the tactics against Chemnitz during the half-time break

In stoppage time, Rasmus has the chance to win 8 meters after the fourth team foul. But Chemnitz goalkeeper Sebastian Themel can hold on.

No matter how good the goalkeeper is, Bahia is better.

The Belgian player Dorien is able to steal the ball from the Dublin player's foot in time

Duel at the gang

In the semi-final, Tyago Nascimento is happy about his teammate's goal against FC St. Pauli with a jump in the air

Michael dribbles around Tyago

The great Jefinho also scores against FC St. Pauli

In the game for seventh place, the 6-meter shooting must decide. Dublin can keep all the balls on goal

Serdi scores 1-0 in the small final against Brno

Rasmus scores 3-0 after a great solo from his own defense

Great joy after winning the small final

Philipp is happy with guide Miri

In the final, Greek goalkeeper Giorgos brilliantly saves Jefinho's shot. However, he later gets injured and has to be substituted. (Get well soon)

Later Jefinho scores against the substitute goalkeeper Dimitris

Bahia celebrates winning the tournament

At the end there were trophies and medals

The commentator of all games was also honored.

Rasmus was honored as the tournament's best defender.

Jefinho was the tournament's best striker with 16 goals

FC St. Pauli celebrates reaching third place

Bahia celebrates winning the tournament with the big trophy

Group photo with fisheye

The team from Bahia in Brazil won the tournament again. That was expectable. The excellent performance of the St. Paulians was not to be expected. They only had to admit defeat to the Bahia team in the semi-finals. They were the only team other than Bahia to score against the Greeks and were able to wrest a draw from the eventual runners-up. The FC St. Pauli player Rasmus was deservedly voted the best defender of the tournament. You can also find a report about the sporting side of the tournament on the official homepage of FC St. Pauli.

Since I have been following the team in brown and white for around two years now, I see strong development. In some cases only minors were on the pitch. There is still a lot of potential and I hope that blind football will find many more supporters in Hamburg. You should mark the last weekend in September in your calendar: the Hallenmasters will take place again in Hamburg. It's worth experiencing this great sport and these wonderful people. They are sure to brighten your life as much as they did mine...