World Cup dream win for cerebral palsy footballer

Freddie Lamb always dreamed of winning a World Cup.

On Saturday, he saw that happen when the England squad won the Cerebral Palsy World Cup in the US.

The Para Lions, as they are known, beat the hosts the US 2-1 in extra time in Atlanta to win the trophy for the first time.

Lamb, one of the squad's goalkeepers, who lives in Derby, said: "It's been a whirlwind last month, last couple of months, so all the training over the last 15 years made it work."

According to the NHS, cerebral palsy, is the name for a group of lifelong conditions that affect movement and coordination caused by a brain condition before, during or soon after birth.

Lamb, who grew up in Melbourne in Derbyshire, said the Cerebral Palsy World Cup was his first senior tournament and he made his debut in a game against Ireland.

"It's been an absolute amazing opportunity, an amazing time over there."

He added: "I think the last two-and-a-half weeks have shown that nothing is impossible and if you want to achieve something and you put your mind to it, you can achieve it."

The 25-year-old, who said he played grassroots football for the Melbourne Dynamos, said it was "life-changing" to play in a squad of players with cerebral palsy and it had "a brought everyone together".

Lamb said this was also the case locally as he played for a cerebral palsy team at Burton Albion Community Trust.

Talking about the condition, Lamb, who was born at 24 weeks old, said: "For me, it affects my lower legs.

"Everyone is different - it generally affects your balance, your coordination and stability, but for me, it's both my legs.

"For others, it's one side and it's more mild - there's no cure for it at all but physio and treatments do help."

He added: "My brain registers it all and what I want to do, it's just my body sometimes can't do it, to put it in the simplest terms.

"So for me, stopping over the short, quick distances is what I struggle with, to then get set to generate the power, to then make the saves."

During the final of the World Cup, where Lamb was on the bench, the hosts had taken a late lead in Atlanta from a corner with three minutes left of normal time, before England responded with a late equaliser in added time.

Early in extra time, David Porcher, who had come on as a substitute, fired home the winner - crowning England as champions for the first time in their history.

Porcher told the BBC the win was "unbelievable".

Lamb added: "For us as players, it's more a disbelief of what we've achieved and I don't think it's quite set in for everyone yet."

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