Danielle Villasana for ESPN
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.
"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."
Full Story: ESPN
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