ISTANBUL — Dr. Eric Lamberg gathers his players together. “All right guys, you hear that?” the coach asks. “That was a shock. Everybody’s shocked. You guys just took down England!” There are cheers, applause and crutches hoisted into the air in celebration from the assembled players and staff of the United States’ national amputee soccer team. “And you looked good doing it. Where’s our goal scorer? Musa!”
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Eighteen-year-old striker Musa Nzirimwo scored the goal that got the United States’ Amputee Soccer World Cup campaign up and running, but he nearly wasn’t there at all. Not only because as a child in the Democratic Republic of Congo he lost his leg kicking a hand grenade that he thought was a ball, but because his status as a refugee with residency in the U.S. meant he only secured a visa to enter Turkey to compete in the tournament with just a few days to spare. But here he was, running on to a perfectly weighted through ball from team captain Nico Calabria — who helped recruit Nzirimwo for the team — to give the Americans a crucial 1-0 win.
This is the world of amputee soccer, the volunteer-led sport in which players are either born with a limb difference or have undergone an amputation, where their personal stories might well inspire others but pale into insignificance when there is the serious business of representing your country at a World Cup and victory is on the line.
“Ultimately, we want to get past that, so it’s not all, ‘Wow, isn’t it great that they’re still playing, it’s so inspirational,'” Calabria told ESPN. “It’s more like we’ve overcome challenges, now look at the way we can play, the athleticism, the competitiveness. I try to steer away from the inspiration side of the story because, honestly, I’m sick of hearing it.”
Staged Sept. 30 to Oct. 9, the 2022 World Cup — the 17th to be held since the first in Seattle in 1984 and fifth to be organised by the World Amputee Football Federation (WAFF) — was, in participation terms, the biggest in the sport’s 40-year history. It was the first to have so many national teams vying for a place at the finals that regional qualifiers were held to whittle the 48 original entrants down to the 24 teams that made it to Turkey. Like many disability sports, amputee soccer is constantly battling for exposure to earn more funding and investment to continue its growth. A lot of people may not have heard of it before, but once you see it played for the first time you won’t forget it.
The seven-a-side game, played over two 25-minute halves on a field three-quarters the size of a regulation soccer pitch, can be a rough and physical. The six outfielders can move at speed using their one complete leg and a pair of titanium forearm crutches, and while sliding tackles are not allowed, there are plenty of powerful challenges and collisions that result in one or both players hitting the ground, often landing on each other or their sticks. The players do get plenty of chance to recover, if need be, as coaches can make unlimited rolling substitutions.
“It’s a very physical game, more so than what we would see in able-bodied soccer, as many times the sticks are hitting people and creating different kinds of bruises that are a little bit longer lasting,” Lamberg said.
As Calabria added, “Largely it’s the same, except you’re just giving all these dudes weapons, and they’re battling with them out there. It’s pretty physical and intense. I leave most games with bloodied knuckles, and people get bumped and bruised pretty bad. There’s a lot of falling.”
The goalkeepers, the only players with two fully functioning legs but with a limb difference in one arm, are not allowed out of their penalty area — doing so leads to a penalty kick for the opposition — and they must defend their goal (which, at 7 feet by 16 feet, is slightly wider than a field hockey goal) with their amputated arm strapped to their side.
“Because there are lot of differences between the goalkeepers with their amputated arm — how long or thick it is, for example — we have to strap it to our body,” England goalkeeper Kieran Lambourne said. “So diving on your weaker side is a lot harder to learn. You get quite a few bruises and bumps on your shoulder and arms, which isn’t great.”
A lot of goals come from set pieces in amputee soccer due to the frequent free kicks awarded for fouls and “handballs” — when the ball hits a player’s arm or crutch in an unnatural position — and the kick-ins used to restart play from the sidelines.
“In general, it has a choppier pace than traditional soccer,” Calabria said. “But it depends on the game and the team and the style.”
It was while he was in Haiti on a volunteer physical therapy mission 10 years ago that Lamberg discovered the sport in the first place. “The hospital was up on a hill, and I looked down on to the fields and I saw some guys playing soccer on crutches,” he said. “My researching and teaching has always been around amputations, prosthetics and orthotics. So I went down to speak with them and I saw that all these guys were playing with an amputation. I never saw the sport, never heard about it before.”
That chance encounter led to him coaching the U.S. at a World Cup two years later, with Dr. James Pierre-Glaude accompanying him as the only other member of support staff (“everyone else was a player, so we were doing everything — from soup to nuts.”) Eight years on, those two are part of a group of 11 working to set the team up for a round-of-16 knockout match against their most familiar opponents.
“We do have a special place for Haiti,” Lamberg said. “They’re our closest neighbours to play the matches. Fred Sorrells is an American who has helped develop the game of amputee soccer in Haiti. We always want to see them develop and have success because there are so many people who are living with amputation in Haiti. Soccer is such a big part of their lives.
“It’s a competition. During these 50 minutes of match, it’s a game. We’re looking to play our best and come out on top. After the match, we’re very happy to continue our relationship and grow the sport in our region.”
In the round of 16, England’s campaign is ended by Angola. The defending champions are forced into extra-time after a goalless regulation 50 minutes but, in the second of two additional 10-minute periods, Heno Sebastiao Adao scores and celebrates by coolly putting a finger to his lips in a “shhh” gesture. England rally after Joao Chiquete’s late red card as Tweed is agonisingly denied with several chances to equalise and force a penalty shootout, but it’s too late.
An hour later, over on pitch 3B, the U.S. and Haiti play out as an open game with chances and saves at both ends. Haiti break the deadlock on 19 minutes when Richard “Redondo” El Principe flicks a stunning volley on the turn past Oliva. It is the first time the U.S. have conceded the opening goal, but they are handed a lifeline in first-half stoppage time when Haiti goalkeeper Jean John-Baby steps outside of his area and concedes a penalty, which Calabria converts with the last kick of the half.
The game follows in the same vein after the break, but it’s not until additional time at the end of the second half when Redondo outmuscles U.S. defender and professional skier Vasu Sojitra and chips the ball over Oliva. But the U.S. continue to push forward and, with possibly their last chance to stay in the World Cup, Booker heads a free kick from deep toward goal and the nervous Haiti defence conspires to fumble it over the line. It is an extraordinary show of spirit for the U.S. to score not one but two late equalisers and force extra time, but there is little left in the tank. In extra time, two more goals from Redondo and one each for John Spinoza and Charles Saviola make the final score 6-2 and send the U.S. out.
However, it does not mean that they — or any team, for that matter — are going home just yet. Every side remains in Turkey after they are eliminated to play more matches in order to determine their final classification among the 24 nations at the World Cup.
After losing 4-3 to Japan and a 3-1 defeat to Poland, the U.S. are able to finish on a high with a 1-0 win over Mexico which sees them finish 15th, while England end up ninth after victories over Poland (3-0), Japan (2-0) and Argentina (4-3.)
Tregaskiss’ haul of seven goals is the most by an England player, while Calabria finishes the tournament with eight goals — one behind joint top scorers Omer Guleryuz of Turkey and Haiti duo Saviola and Redondo — despite playing on for three more games after breaking two toes during the loss to Haiti.
