Tonight Argentina will visit Bolivia and they will play in Estadio Hernado Siles - aka the highest altitude stadium in the world.

FYI, the stadium is located in the Miraflores borough of La Paz, at an altitude of 3,637 metres (11,932 feet) above sea level. If you have never been on that relatively high, this is what you can refer to:

• for a regular sport person (jogging, yoga or playing tennis or squash at least twice a week) you would run out of breath if you jog or run (slowly) for 5 to 10 minutes...
• Im to lazy to find scientific evident for that, but it's personal experience and from what I have heard.

The point is: It's really hard!

Argentina under Maradona suffered one of the most humiliating lost in their history over there (6 - 1) back in 2009.

Now Argentina doesn't look so sharp either, their recent performance is FAR from convincing. Their mid is terrible, too many good striker ONLY ON PAPER, never actually perform while on national duty. The formation was super weird on their last game (5 - 1 - 4) wth? They were on the verge of being irrelevant when Messi had his injury at the beginning.

Do we expect another humiliation? I dont think so, unless they keep the same lame ass performance.

But I expect a very hard game for Argentina. 1 - 1

i thought i was the only one worried about this lol. great post! glad you kept people informed. fyi we haven't won here since 2005. this is just one of the factors that make the south american qualifiers the hardest. i know people might think bolivia would be an easy game. but even this game because of the football they play and the altitude will be really difficult. it is our hardest game, and it comes at a really bad time for us. if we lose, we would be out of the top 5 putting our WC hopes in jeopardy. i suggest everyone watch the 6 1 loss we had there. the physics of the ball change in altitude. bolivians have a special way of kicking. they will out run us and shoot long balls from half the field. in altitude, the ball drops really quickly, almost like an upside down U. it is very terrifying if you haven't seen before. we will play 4 4 2, hoping to keep the ball. but we won't and bolivia will dominate, we just have to hope they don't score. bolivia rested 7 players in preparation for this game. they treat it like a final. and both teams go into it with the same attitude.

La Paz is every other South American team's nightmare. Statistically, Bolivia at home during the qualifiers have 3 wins 1 draw and 2 losses - to Colombia and Uruguay. Uruguay won by 2-0 against a 10-man Bolivia, and Colombia by 3-2 with a goal in the 92'.

We also have Brazil vs Paraguay tonight. Brazil has not been able to win for 8 years. 8 years! And were kicked out from the Copa America by this same Paraguay. So I don`t expect Brazil to have an easy game.

Like many have said before, there are no weak teams in South America. Except Venezuela.

I know there is a lot of talk about home advantage but that is literaly over the top. This feel like this is right out of an anime or something like that. Thanks for the share anyway, wish the best to Argentina, they will need it. :D

@Gonzi You are right, the ball does move in a strange manner in there. :O

AWesome post , wow , i had no idea.

@Emo your right it sound just like that.

Do you guys have any links showing how bolivians play/kick?

@Golefty Your best bet would be highlight where Bolivia play at home, here is the one Gonzi recommended: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlfUpC7yh74

Also, this might be relevent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC010FcsvR8

One big blow to Argentina. Messi is suspended for 4 games.

Aguero player for Argentina since 2006!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now with Messi suspended, I see no way Argentina winning this game. Bolivia's stadium is something else, and the air is so thin there that you can literally pass out while running around for 90 minutes.

my eyes will be glued to the screen...either bolivia beat us by a huge amount or argentina play the waiting game and hope for a miracle...

@emo great 2nd link. you see messi talking at the end, saying how happy he is for getting 1 point at that stadium. not 3 points, just 1. lol

The scientific reason behind it is basically that the higher you go, the components in the air or atmosphere lack more Oxygen, therefore it is harder for a human to breath the oxygen needed to feed your lungs/brain and regenerate for you to function properly. That is why they say air is thinner on high altitudes. You would have to breath 3 times more often to replenish your needed oxygen intake on a regular terrain, which is not possible due to an obvious hyperventilation problem, so people get tired way faster.

With that being said. We can see how one of the worst teams in CONMEBOL can be a pain just because of the pitch they play it. Very interesting if you ask me.

Would this mean that Bolivians from this area have adapted to living with less oxygen? Would they also find that playing at lower altitudes makes it easier to breath. I know that often athletes will train at high altitudes , how does Bolivia fare away?

@Golefty Bolivia loses nearly all their away games, being at 9th place, only 2 points above Venezuela. Not all Bolivian players play in high altitudes regularly. They are just more used to it. At lower altitudes, the technique kicks in, and people with better quality win, not exactly the players who breath "easier". Or else, this sport would reward the most physically gifted athletes, and we know that is not true.

@kirsi16 i didn't think they were that great away, but you'd think they would be really good at endurance sports. Its crazy how much of a difference the altitude makes. Thanks for the info!!

@Golefty Even the smallest difference in temperature can change the whole outcome of a game so its make sense that other factor can have similar effect on the game. Never understimate the power of home advantage is what this story taught me. :O

Indeed, guys. A mall different in the environment can affect the outcome in some ways. Sometimes (I repeat, sometimes) it changes the entire outcome).

@Tuanis: thanks, EXACTLY. Although, I referred to my lack of scientific evidence in my example, and easy example for people to understand the negative impact from such a high altitude.

Btw, Bolivia isnt in a good form, and technically speaking, they are more used to playing on such a high field compare to regular players. That's their only advantage of playing at home. They also play at lower ground so in that sense, it's in there disadvantages, but not much

tuan_jinn

it's personal experience

Interesting, how was La Paz?

I've heard that playing a 90 minute game of football in La Paz is the same as playing 300 minutes.

You would have to breath 3 times more often to replenish your needed oxygen intake on a regular terrain, which is not possible due to an obvious hyperventilation problem, so people get tired way faster.

Something like this.

I mean, heheh, when running on high altitude, I ran out of breath after a few min of jogging. Like 5 times faster than on a regular ground 😂

tuan_jinn

I mean, heheh, when running on high altitude, I ran out of breath after a few min of jogging. Like 5 times faster than on a regular ground 😂

I feel like an idiot.