In Bolivia, as in all South American countries, football is the number one sport in the country. However, you wouldn’t think that Bolivia is as crazy about football as Brazil, Argentina or Uruguay.
These three nations stand out from the crowd when it comes to football fanfare on the continent. In those three countries, it means a little more, obliges others more, and, frankly, represents a more important part of everyone’s life. That or not.
Among the 10 nations participating in South American continental football, Bolivia has the third smallest population. Countries like Brazil and Argentina, of course, have many more football clubs and many more players, so it is rare to see a Bolivian team compete with Brazilians or Argentines. With this in mind, how did Bolivia beat Lionel Messi’s Argentina 6-1 in a 2009 World Cup qualifier?
The answer is height, and from time to time, the Bolivian national team or its most productive clubs must stand out thanks to that exclusive home merit they hold over their South American teammates.
La Paz in Bolivia is home to approximately 2 million inhabitants. This means a large concentration of football enthusiasts and therefore an ideal scenario for teams to identify themselves as the most popular in the country.
In the figure of “Bolivar” and “The Strongest”, this happens in La Paz, they are the most popular clubs in the country. They are also the top productive architects of the table with forty-five league titles between them and national cups. .
Compared to the entire South American continent, Bolivia has lagged behind in terms of prowess in foreign football, but if you add altitude to this combination, then you have the possibility to fight.
Bolivia has won only 3 of the 22 FIFA World Cup finals that have been held since 1930. He also failed to win a match when he won the tournament. It has only won one of the 47 Copa America imaginable, and in clubs Globally, Bolivia and Venezuela are the only two nations without a team capable of reaching the final of the Copa Libertadores.
However, La Paz is home to the Hernando Siles Stadium. The stadium is located at 3,637 meters (11,932 feet) above sea level and is home to the Bolvia national team and clubs such as The Strongest and Bolívar.
Even if the Bolivians are well acclimatized to such conditions, their warring parties are not, and they are not able to succeed in their overall point of functionality when they decide to play in Bolivia, giving the home team such exclusive merit that FIFA has. He even banned it in 2007.
The ban did not last long due to the backlash to the decision, but FIFA deemed unfair the merit of the altitude and that no World Cup qualifying matches would be played on fields 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) or higher above sea level. It’s true that for many visiting teams, we spent 90 minutes trying to breathe well instead of thinking about winning a football match.
As mentioned, Bolivia’s outstanding victory over Argentina in 2009 is the best example of the negative effect altitude can have on visiting teams. Between 2006 and 2018, Bolivia did not win a single World Cup qualifier away from home and only controlled two draws. However, in the same period, at home, they achieved fourteen victories in La Paz and ten draws. The contrast is stunning.
Bolivar recently surprised Brazilian visitors and Paranaense favorites by getting rid of them from the Array. [ ] Copa Libertadores
At club level, this season alone, the impressive merit of the squad is evident. Bolívar participated against all odds in the knockout stages of the Copa Libertadores. In the knockout stages they beat the beloved Club Atlético Paranaense in two matches. winning at home and consuming, as always.
Meanwhile, the Strongests were eliminated from the tournament, but their form is further proof of La Paz’s altitude effect. In one group, they lost all away matches but won at home against two of the tournament’s favourites; River Plate of Argentina and Fluminense of Brazil.
From Neymar to Diego Maradona, everyone has had a say in whether merit at home in La Paz is fair or unfair, whether it is inhumane to allow matches to be held there or whether it is discriminatory to ban such events. The truth is that the small and passionate country of Bolivian football has an exclusive weapon in its arsenal that gives it a rare possibility to fight against the big boys.