Saturday, November 18th, 2023.- In an entertaining match held at the Estadio Bicentenario de La Florida, Brazil won 2-1 against Argentina in the CP Football category of the Santiago 2023 Parapan American Games.

This encounter between football powers - the quintessential South American classic - was decided in favor of Brazil primarily due to the pragmatism they displayed during the full 60 minutes of the match.

At 4 minutes, following a visible error from the Argentinian goalkeeper Sergio Gutiérrez, who lost the ball while trying to play out from the back, Matheus Cardoso opened the scoring for Brazil. Argentina went all out in search of an equalizer, which they found at 9 minutes through Matías Fernández after an impressive team play.

From that point, Argentina began to play better and seemed poised to take the lead, but at 18 minutes, Ubirajara da Silva scored the 2-1 for Brazil with a precise long-range shot.

In the second half, the Argentines pushed hard for the equalizer, leaving themselves exposed to counterattacks from Matheus and De Oliveira. However, the scoreline remained unchanged, granting the first three points to the Brazilian team, currently holding the second position in the CP Football world rankings.

"It was a very difficult match. Argentina is our historical rival, but thankfully, we found our game and achieved victory. It was important to start by winning, and we accomplished it," said Brazilian Ubirajara da Silva, while Argentine Matías Fernández mentioned, "We ended up losing despite having possession of the ball. The referee left much to be desired as he didn't call two clear penalties for us. We proposed a very direct game, dominated, but unfortunately, we couldn't win."

CP Football is a version of 7-a-side football adapted for individuals with cerebral palsy. It follows the same FIFA rules as regular football but includes certain modifications related to the minimum parity conditions required between the two teams.

Written by Rodrigo Vargas-Marcelo López; translated by Vicente Valdivia / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport
Photo by Jonnathan Oyarzún / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport