Argentina move to top of group at 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Football Worlds
Argentina have moved to the top of their group at the 2018 International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) Football World Championships after a 7-0 win over hosts Sweden on Tuesday (7 August).
Sweden were the leaders going into the game at the Sannavallen Stadium in Kristinehamn on goal difference. However the result against their South American rivals saw them lose the advantage.
The rout began in the 19th minute when Walter Joel Smoulenar was brought down in the box by Mattias Vretling. The referee had no hesitation in awarding Argentina a penalty.
Gaston Ariel Ibarguengoitia slotted the ball home to give his team the lead. Ibarguengoitia then doubled the lead just five minutes later, heading in an impressive cross from Luciano Alejandro Campitelli.
An own goal from Vretling when a back pass took his goalkeeper Adrian Lundgren by surprise brought the score to 3-0 at half-time.
Smoulenar opening the scoring for Argentina in the second half. He was followed by Enzo David Stampone before Campitelli netted his second of the match. Stampone concluded the scoring in the 77th minute.
“We are very happy,” Smoulenar said after the match. “We knew this match would be very important to go further in the tournament.”
The striker has been a key part of Argentina’s attack so far in Sweden, also scoring in their 4-2 win over France. “I am very happy [with my own performance],” Smoulenar continued. “Sometimes I can get frustrated if I don’t score but it worked out well today.”
“[As a team] we have talked about not losing focus. We just need to take it step-by-step and play our game.”
About the 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Football World Championships
Teams will play in two groups of four ahead of the semi-finals on 16 August and final on 18 August.
Group A features Sweden, France, Germany and Argentina. Saudi Arabia, Poland, Japan and Russia are in group B. All teams in group A will be awarded a 3-0 scoreline for fixtures against South Africa after their late withdrawal.
Games are being shown live at the World Intellectual Impairment Sport YouTube channel. Information about groups, the schedule and results are available at https://iwfc.se/.
Photographs will be available on request from lucy.dominy@inas.org.
