Brazil won the gold medal in men’s goalball today, beating Argentina 12-2. Brazil, who was undefeated during the entire tournament, came into the match as the favorite.  It looked like it might end by mercy rule during the first half but a quick penalty by Argentina sent the game to the second. It wasn’t enough to stop the momentum, however, and after two quick goals shortly into the second half, Brazil pulled ahead 12-2 and was declared the victor.

Goalball, which was originally invented as a means of assisting the rehabilitation of visually impaired World War II veterans, requires complete silence. The referee had to stop the game repeatedly for noise caused by airplanes flying overhead and a boisterous crowd which did its best to contain its cheers and screams to the moments after goals when noise is briefly permitted. The frequent pauses did not seem to have an effect of the Brazil team, however, as it rained goals into the Argentinian net.

Throughout the tournament, Emerson Silva was one of Brazil’s key players. After the match he said, “It was a game in which we came out more aggressively than in the first round, but we were able to apply our style and managed to liquidate the match in the beginning of the second period. I would also like to say to anybody who has any type of deficiency, even if it is something of a more minor level: find a sport to play.  Sports is one of the best things there is and something that will help you for your whole life in a lot of different ways.  Find a sport to play, don’t be sedentary.

In the first match of the day, Colombia took the Bronze medal beating Mexico 10-6 in a more tightly disputed match. Complete results for today’s events can be found here.