'We're a band of brothers...we will be back!'

“It is a band of brothers. They're my best friends; they're like family. I love every single one of them. It hurts right now but knowing we've got each other to bounce back is so special. We will be back.”

Those were the words of England Partially Sighted star Adam Lione after the Para Lions missed out on a first IBSA World Championship by the narrowest of margins in Walsall.

Ukraine have long been the best partially sighted futsal side on the planet. But England were four minutes away from lifting their first World Championship and looked all set for penalties until the reigning champions scored with just 22 seconds left of extra-time to make it 4-3.

He said: "I am so, so proud of all the lads. It has been a real journey for us over the years, going back to before COVID and getting into the final in 2019. We were pretty much blown away in that final and then, obviously, Covid happened, and Steve came in.

"We’ve made a lot of progress over the last two years and a lot of that is credit to the FA, getting us friendlies against Turkey, Spain, France...we couldn't have been better prepared.

“We pushed the best team in the world and one of the best teams to play partially sighted futsal all the way to the very end.

“It's the stuff of dreams to play on home soil in front of all our friends and family, and to come so close, it's heart-breaking.

“We had a small squad and every man made their country proud.”

"I've been playing for ten years, my first tournament was in 2013 in Japan, and this has been the best one by an absolute country mile,” he continued.

“The togetherness in this team: from losing Tom Lamb due to classification to losing Paul McHugh to an ACL injury, that's the stuff that can break teams.

“Going 2-1 down in the first game, 1-0 down in the second game, having to win the third game to get through… it is a band of brothers. They're my best friends; they're like family. I love every single one of them. It hurts right now, but knowing we've got each other to bounce back is so special. We will be back.”

Lione started the match on the bench before coming on to score all three of his country’s goals, two of which were exceptional finishes.

It was one of the great performances by an England player in a major final, something which Lione knows he will come to appreciate, in time.

He said: "Scoring a hat-trick in the World Championship final is one of the best things I've ever done in football, and it's something I'll remember for the rest of my life.

“It's a little bit tainted and it hurts right now and, it is the last thing I'm thinking about right now because I'm more focused on the missed chances and their final goal at the very end.

“But I'm sure one day I'll look back on it and how special it is. But right now, I just wish we had got over the line. But that is football.”

The Partially Sighted World Championships were part of the 2023 IBSA World Games which took place in Birmingham and across the West Midlands.

Around 1,250 blind and partially sighted athletes from 70 countries have been competing across ten sports this month and the atmosphere during England Partially Sighted versus Ukraine was electric at the University of Wolverhampton Walsall Campus.

Lione said: "I'm so appreciative of everyone that has come out and watched. We are playing on a Tuesday and there are over 200 people showing up, even when they've been at work. People are taking the day off work to come and watch us and to display the level of partially sighted futsal and to see how many people are committed to the sport, it's really special.

“Especially my mom and dad — they've followed me all around the world. They've gone to Georgia, Turkey, Spain, and other places overseas to come and watch us. So to have everyone on home soil, it's really, really special and something I will remember for the rest of my life.”