5 a Side Soccer Champion Meets European Soccer Champion

Mizael Conrado is one of Brazil’s all-time best 5 a side soccer players. He was born with a condition called congenital cataract. The condition creates a clouding within the lens of the eye, which results in low vision. As an infant, he went through four eye surgeries. These treatments helped Mizael to be able to see. Unfortunately, by the age of nine, Mizael suffered from a retinal detachment. He lost his vision completely due to this condition by the age of thirteen. What Mizael has made of himself and what he has been able to accomplish in his forty-two years of age,  is a complete wonder.

Attending a Special Needs School

Mizael studied in a school for visually impaired students. It was there that he discovered 5 a side soccer. This type of soccer is an adaptation that makes the game accessible for people who are visually impaired. The game is played on a smaller court than the regular soccer courts. Only five players are on each team, instead of eleven. In 5 a side soccer, the team is made up of a goalkeeper and four other players. All of the players must cover their eyes during the game. The goalkeeper is the only player who does not need to cover his eyes during the game. In some teams, the goalkeeper is not visually impaired. Which Makes scoring a goal a harder task.

Every team has people on the sidelines who act as helpers for the players on the team. They help by shouting out to the players about the direction they need to kick towards the goal, and where the other players are. The ball makes noise as it moves so the players with low vision can follow it. Players need to develop good coordination with their feet. They also need to develop the ability to keep dribbling the ball based on where they feel it will be going as they dribble it based on ball movements and sounds.

Developing a Professional 5 a Side Soccer Career

Mizael is a natural on the field. He quickly became an impressive player, and drew the national team’s recruiters attention. They quickly recruited him to the Brazillian national five a side soccer team. In the year 1994, Mizael was part of the Brazillian national 5 a side soccer team that won the Latin American Championship. They won the championship again in 1997. Followed by additional Latin American championship titles in 2001, and in 2003. In 1988 and in the year 2000, they won the world championships. Mizael was chosen as the best five a side soccer player in the world in 1998. In the year 2002, Mizael was chosen as the world champion under the age of twenty-five. He also won two gold medals in the 2004 Paralympics in Athens and the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing.

Mizael’s Achievements off of The Field

Besides his athletic achievements, Mizael is very active off the field. At the age of forty two, after retiring from the field, Mizael has acquired a number of impressive titles that speak for his character and his incredible work ethic. Mizael holds a degree in law from the Universidade Cidade de São Paulo. In addition, he has held executive positions at the Center for Social and Sports Emancipation for the Blind, the Confederation of Sports for the Blind, global and Latin American unions for the blind, and the Brazilian union for the blind.

As you can see, Mizael does not let his condition prevent him from achieving goals that very few can accomplish. OrCam Technologies is the proud creator of the world’s most advanced device for people with low vision, OrCam MyEye. It is a wearable, portable mini device that helps them to read text, recognize faces, colors, money bills, barcodes and more. OrCam has decided to recruit twelve athletes with low vision from around the world to be a part of the #OrCam_DreamTeam. Two of them are professional 5 a side soccer players. When Mizael became an official member of the #OrCam_DreamTeam, he met with Leo Messi in Spain. The same day Mizael received an OrCam MyEye device. Now, Mizael can increase his independence and achieve more in life, thanks to his OrCam MyEye.