The 2010 IBSA World Blind Football Championship is a blind football tournament and the fifth World Blind Football Championship. The competition was staged in the United Kingdom between 14 August and 22 August 2010, and involved ten teams of visually impaired players from around the world competing to be crowned world champion. It was won for the third time by Brazil, who defeated Spain 2–0 in the final.
The tournament The championships, which took place at the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford, was the first to have been held in the United Kingdom. The draw for the 2010 World Blind Football Championship was held on Monday 12 April 2010 at Wembley Stadium in London and overseen by Sir Trevor Brooking, the Football Association's Director of Football Development, and George Cohen, who was part of England's winning team at the 1966 FIFA World Cup.
The tournament got under way on the afternoon of Saturday 14 August with the opening match between England and Spain. Brazil won the tournament after beating Spain 2–0 in the final on 22 August. It was the third occasion on which Brazil have won the competition, and their team's striker, Jefferson Goncalves, was named Player of the tournament for what was described by the Hereford Times as an outstanding performance. Host nation England achieved their best result to date, coming fourth overall, but missing out on a medal after losing 5–1 to Brazil in the semi-final, then to China in the third place play off. Feng Ya Wang of China was named Young player of the tournament, while Antonio Martin of Spain won the Golden Boot. Martin's Spanish team-mate, Alfredo Gonzalez, was voted the best goalkeeper of the tournament. Japan was presented with the Fair Play trophy by Mayor of Hereford, Councillor Anna Toon.
Results Group stage Group A England 0 - 1 Spain14 AugustColombia 0 - 0 Japan15 AugustSpain2 - 0Colombia16 AugustEngland2 - 1South Korea16 AugustSpain 1 - 0 South Korea17 AugustEngland2 - 0Japan17 AugustSpain2 - 0Japan18 AugustColombia3 - 1South Korea18 AugustJapan0 - 0South Korea19 AugustEngland1 - 0Colombia19 August
Group B Argentina0 - 1France15 AugustBrazil2 - 0China15 AugustFrance0 - 1 Brazil16 AugustArgentina3 - 0Greece16 AugustFrance2 - 0Greece17 AugustArgentina0 - 1China17 AugustFrance1 - 1China18 AugustBrazil3 - 0Greece18 AugustChina4 - 1Greece19 AugustArgentina0 - 0Brazil19 August
Knockout stage 9th place play-off South Korea0 - 1Greece21 Augustaet (0 - 1 at full-time)
Semi-finals Semi-final 1
Spain1 - 0China21 August; aet (1 - 0 at full-time)
Semi-final 2
Brazil5 - 1 England21 Augustaet (5 - 1 at full-time)
7th place play-off
Japan0 - 1Argentina21 Augustaet (0 - 1 at full-time)
5th place play-off
Colombia0 - 0France21 Augustaet (0 - 0 at full-time); / France win 1 - 2 on penalties
3rd place play-off China1 - 0England22 Augustaet (1 - 0 at full-time)
Final Spain0 - 2Brazil22 Augustaet (0 - 2 at full-time)
Positions Brazil Spain China Great Britain France Colombia Argentina Japan Greece South Korea
References
External links blind2010.com