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Poland’s Wisła Kraków wins amputee football Champions League

Photo: Joanna Żmijewska via Facebook/Wisła Kraków
Photo: Joanna Żmijewska via Facebook/Wisła Kraków
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Polish club Wisła Kraków won the Amputee Football Champions League on Sunday, defeating the Spanish side Flamencos Amputados Sur 2-1 in the final.

The tournament was played over three days in Sassuolo, Italy, beginning on Friday and concluding with the final on Sunday.

Wisła took the lead in the final in the 13th minute, thanks to captain Przemysław Świercz. The Flamencos’ Aitor Palomeque Florido equalized in the 46th minute, but two minutes later the Polish side found a winning goal via fullback David Mendes.

Sunday’s victory was made all the sweeter for Wisła, having lost the previous two consecutive Champions League finals to Turkish teams.

Two years ago in Krakow, they lost 5-2 to Etimesgut, and last year they went down 3-2 to Sahinbey. The Poles won the competition in style, leaving Sassuolo with a 100% record. They took revenge on Turkey’s Sahinbey (3-0), thumped English side Everton (8-0), and overcame the Irish team Cork City (3-1) in the group stage. Then Wisła defeated the Italian team Vicenza Calcio Amputati in the semifinals. In amputee football, outfield players have lower extremity amputations, and goalkeepers have an upper extremity amputation. There are seven players per side, and matches are 25 minutes per half. The sport’s origins can be traced back to early 20th-century Europe. In 2023, Marcin Oleksy, a player for Warta Poznań in Poland, became the first-ever amputee footballer to claim the prestigious FIFA Puskás Award, which honors the “most beautiful goal of the year.”
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