Inside stories

The Great Britain blind football team’s priorities as they prepare for the Paralympics can be summed up in just two words – killer instinct.

Head coach Tony Larkin has had enough of near misses in major tournaments, and he’s determined to make sure it doesn’t happen again on the biggest stage of all in London.

After losing to Brazil in the semi-finals of the 2010 World Championships, Larkin’s England side suffered an agonising repeat at the same stage of last year’s European Championships when a last-gasp goal from Spain knocked them out.

“We lost 1-0 to Spain with a goal 40-odd seconds to go when we were looking the strongest team,” the former Shrewsbury Town, Carlisle United and Hereford United defender told C4 Paralympics. “That’s when you’ve got to kill the game off.

I’m pretty nervous - GB blind footballer Keryn Seal

“We’ve been working on that – not winning at all costs, but how to see out games. A lot of times we’ve dominated teams, and we’ve been working on our finishing and the importance of hitting the target.”

Larkin has also been putting his players through a tough fitness regime devised by GB’s sports scientists as he prepares to whittle down the squad from 11 to eight next month.

Keryn Seal was part of the team who finished a disappointing fifth at the Beijing Paralympics in 2008, and he admits the pressure is on as the players battle to be part of “the biggest thing that will probably happen to any of us in our careers”.

“I’m pretty nervous. I’ve never been in a situation where the competition for places has been as tough,” says Seal, who was among the players who gave David Beckham an introduction to blind football in Los Angeles last November.

“I’m one of the senior players - I’ve played nearly sixty games for my country now - but I’m still not thinking that’s me in the squad and I’ll be playing in the first game at the end of August.”

Coach Larkin believes this is the fittest and most talented squad he has had since he joined the national set-up in 1995, and he plans to test them fully in the run-up to London.

Brazil have two outstanding individuals in Ricardo Alves and Jefferson Gonclaves - Keryn Seal

GB began their build-up with two tough matches against European champions France (a 0-0 draw and 1-0 defeat), and in April they will host a tournament at their base in Hereford featuring world champions Brazil, second-ranked Spain, and Italy.

“I’ve got to make sure the players don’t freeze on the occasion,” says Larkin.

“When we went out to Beijing and played China in the opening game, I looked down at the players and staff during the national anthems and some of them looked really nervous and out of place. And I had one or two players there who were just happy to be participating.

“I don’t want that when it comes to London. I want players there who actually believe they can be on the podium.”

Seal and his team-mates know that if they want to win Paralympic gold in September they will have to beat the mighty Brazil, one of several top sides who, unlike Great Britain, train full-time.

“We owe the Brazilians one because they gave us a good hiding in the semi-final of the World Cup in 2010 (5-1)", said Seal, whose side were the only team to score against Brazil in the entire tournament.

“They’ve had a few retirements since then and their squad is probably not as strong as it has been. They do still have two outstanding individuals in Ricardo Alves and Jefferson Gonclaves.

"Alves is a veteran but he's still so young - he's either 22 or 23 - but he has been around since the 2006 World Cup.

"He's a natural number 10, he moves in a way with the ball that no-one else can in blind football - when I'm not playing him he's my favourite footballer to watch.

"And Gonclaves - or 'Jeffe' as we call him - is very quick in a straight line with great skills.

"But we’ve got a lot of outstanding individuals. We definitely believe we can beat Brazil, China, France and any other team. It’s about putting that winning mentality into place and going to win those games.

“You don’t go into any football tournament thinking you want to win silver or bronze. We’re going in there to try and win this thing.”