By David Gold

Marcos Felipe_of_Brazil_tussles_with_Carlos_Ivan_Figueroa_of_Argentina_25-06-12June 25 - The Brazilian Paralympic five-a-side football team is in Spain, for an important five nation preparation tournament ahead of the London 2012 Games.

Brazil will take on rivals Argentina, as well as China, Spain and France in Madrid, where the first national five-a-side championship took place in 1986.

All five nations will be at the Paralympic Games in London this summer for the five-a-side tournament.

China lost to Brazil in the final at home in the final of the Beijing 2008 event, while Brazil will be aiming for a third successive gold medal in the sport at this summer's Games after it was introduced to the Paralympic programme at Athens 2004.

Brazil come into the tournament having recently beaten South American rivals Argentina, whom they met in the final at Athens, in an International Challenge Cup at the Estádio do Morumbi in São Paulo.

Brazil's five-a-side football national coordinator, José Antônio Freire, said that the tournament would be crucial preparation for London 2012.

"It will be a high-level competition, since our opponents in Madrid will be the same as for the London Games," he said.

"It will be a difficult test for us, but we are prepared, [and] confident in our work throughout the year and during training."

Coach Ramón Pereira is taking ten players to Madrid, and his squad will then return to Rio de Janeiro.

Paralympic five-a-side football, for blind and visually impaired players, takes place between August 31 and September 8 this summer at the Riverbank Arena on the Olympic Park in Stratford.

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