The Brazilian men’s Goalball team added the American title in the Para PanAmerican Games – Santiago 2023 to the world title conquered in Portugal last year.

There were no surprises at the last minute in the men’s competition. The USA team knew already that their qualification to Paris 2024 was guaranteed because Brazil had their place secured by the condition of being a world champion. So, the match was just about the gold.

The USA managed to hold off the strong South American squad in the first moments. The score was just 1-0 for Brazil, with a goal scored by Josemarcio da Silva in the first throw of the match. Nevertheless, the Brazilian power seemed to go down, and the USA had three missed penalties that could have led them to lead the match.

Then, the Brazilian head coach, Jonatas Castro, operated the substitution that would change everything. Dantas was really the game changer of the final! He scored three goals in a row and left the North Americans on the mercy of the opponents’ mistakes, which, at this stage, is something very hard to happen.

The performance of the Brazilian number 9 was outstanding and led to the maximum result in Goalball (12-2).

“First of all, we have to thank everybody that is part of this work: our Confederation (CBDV), our clubs, because this is all part of teamwork. Brazil has trained six athletes to be prepared at any time, and that was crucial for us. We knew how strong the opponent was, took very careful, and thank God everything went well”, said Dantas at the end of the final match.

In the bronze medal match, Canada defeated Argentina with three goals from Blair Nesbitt, two from Jeffery Smith, and one from Douglas Ripley.

Check out the results of the finals and the final standing of the podium:

FINALS
Men
Bronze
Argentina vs Canada: 2-6
FINAL
Brazil vs USA: 12-2

1st – Brazil
2nd – The USA
3rd – Canada