Para Lions hoping to create 'special moments' at EUROs

England men’s Blind squad head coach Adam Bendall is looking forward to reuniting with the Para Lions ahead of the IBSA European Blind Football Championship which kicks off next week.

The Para Lions travel to Strasbourg on Thursday ahead of their tournament opener against the host nation on Monday 17 August (3pm BST).

And England are embracing the challenge of this summer’s major tournament which will be staged in France.

“Just bringing everyone back together is something that’s really exciting, and something that we can build around is the feeling of everyone being together which is really important because we haven’t had that all year,” explained Bendall.

“We’ve had a lot of challenging times over the last year or so, so it’s going to be great to have everyone together in one place. I think that’s one thing that we’re all looking forward to doing.

“Even away from the England squad, Robin Williams passed away – he was the chairman of the league and he used to play for us a couple of years ago. Everyone’s been dealing with that, so this will be the first time since India and since those types of events have happened that we’ll all be together in one place.”

England have been drawn into a group with France, Germany and Greece – three ‘tough’ opponents, according to Bendall.

“Having the chance to win our first European Championships is incredibly exciting,” he continued.

“If you look at the two groups, it’s definitely the tougher of the two groups. We’re just looking forward to getting out there and trying to do our best against them.

“France are the Paralympic champions – they won the gold medal in Paris two years ago. Germany are always tough to play against. Greece are a team that are always competing in Europe – they’re a tricky opposition, as well.

“The great thing about our lads being so young is they don’t think about what we have to face – we just play the game and see where that takes us. I think that’s a really refreshing and positive outlook on how to approach these games and that’s what we’ll be doing – taking each game as it comes and seeing how we get on.”

Last month, Bendall’s team completed their final preparations for the EUROs, placing third at the Blind Men Quad-Nations tournament.

Wins over the USA, Poland, along with defeat to Japan, helped the Para Lions progress but narrowly miss out on a place in the final. However, a 7-0 victory against the USA secured bronze.

“It was really important in our preparations,” he noted. “It went well and all the lads were happy. You could feel the excitement from the players.

“We played some games out in Argentina in April because we wanted to test ourselves against one of the best teams of the World in Argentina.

“We knew that the Quad-Nations was going to be vital for players that are coming back from injury to get big minutes in their legs and get the group back together and refine and retune a few tactical bits around our playing principles.”

Last year, the Blind men’s squad won the IBSA Nations Cup 2025 in India, beating Iran 1-0 in the final to lift the trophy. And the Para Lions are hoping to build on that success.

“Hopefully we’ve got another chance to create more memories and create more special moments,” said Bendall.

“Those memories and those moments are best when you win games of football like we did in India. For me, what’s exciting is the chance to create even more memories like we did in India because the memories I have from that competition stay with me every day.

“Next year is the most important year when we have the chance to qualify for LA 2028, so this is still part of the journey that we’re on and not really the destination. No matter what happens next week, we’ll still be together, still fighting and still working towards what is a massive year next year.”