10/13/2020 2:01 PM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 10/13/2020 3:43 PM
The Argentine National Team faces Bolivia this Tuesday, October 14 for Date 2 of the Conmebol South American Qualifiers
, in one of the most difficult matches that is presented for many teams in the Qualifiers
.
The inhospitable condition imposed by the 3,600 meters above sea level of La Paz is an ally of the local and an enemy of the visitor, and
against this the National Team must fight in its second presentation on the way to the Qatar 2022 World Cup
.
At the Hernando Siles stadium,
where Argentina has not won for 15 years
, the match between Argentina and Bolivia will be played
from 17:00 (Argentine time)
, with the arbitration of Peruvian José Haro and
live broadcast by Public Television
( Cablevisión channels 11 and DirecTV 121)
and TyC Sports
(121 and 629, respectively).
Lionel Messi, upon arrival in La Paz Photo Twitter @Argentina
It will be Lionel Messi's third visit to La Paz, where he could never win with the National Team, as it was part of the historic 6-1 win suffered by Diego Maradona's team in 2009, and four years later he was in a draw 1-1 of the team that then directed Alejandro Sabella.
Leo set foot in this Bolivian city for the fourth time, but he could not play because he was suspended and traveled to accompany the squad: it
was in 2017, when the team led by Edgardo Bauza lost 2-0
and a few days later the coach's layoff was determined to be replaced by Jorge Sampaoli.
The debut with a 1-0 victory over Ecuador in La Bombonera left the National Team with the peace of mind of having achieved the three points (in the previous Qualifiers they had lost against the same rival in their presentation at the Monumental stadium), but many questions about the functioning of a team at times apathetic.
# SelecciónMayor @ lioscaloni🎙️: "If you come to defend yourself and return the ball or throw it up, in the end you will not be able to do anything. We have a clear way of playing and hopefully it will bear fruit."
- Argentina National Team 🇦🇷 (@Argentina) October 12, 2020
The challenge for this second match is enormous due to the difficulties that Argentina always had in its visits to Bolivia, so much so that it
is the rival that has won the most times in the history of the Qualifiers
: five times and all in La Paz.
On the other hand, the national team only won three times of the eleven visits it accumulates to that city, and equalized in the remaining three.
The last Argentine triumph occurred on March 26, 2005, with José Pekerman as coach: Luciano Figueroa and Luciano Galletti were the scorers, while José Alfredo Castillo marked the Bolivian discount.
Luciano Figueroa celebrates his goal in La Paz in 2005. Lionel Scaloni (20) arrives to join.
(AFP)
Messi's last great match in the Qualifiers was at altitude, but in the 2,850 meters of Quito, where
on October 10, 2017 he converted the three goals of the National Team in the 3-1 victory over Ecuador
, which allowed the agonizing classification to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Now, Argentina arrives as one of the leaders together with Uruguay, Colombia and Brazil for their victory on the first date and Bolivia, without units, after receiving a win (5 to 0) from
Scratch
on Friday at the Corinthians Arena in São Paulo.
But the National Team, unlike what the Brazilians and Colombians showed,
is a team under construction
that lacks partnerships, soccer identity and collective game.
# SelecciónMayor @ lioscaloni🎙️: "The difficulty is maximum, we play with a team that is very difficult in their country. But we have a plan and we will try to carry it out well."
- Argentina National Team 🇦🇷 (@Argentina) October 12, 2020
In La Paz, those led by Lionel Scaloni will have the challenge of controlling the ball and managing the game times, with a regulatory modification that can help alleviate the drowning of many of their players:
the possibility of making five changes
, a variant introduced since the coronavirus pandemic.
Scaloni will wait until the last minute to decide if Marcos Acuña, with muscular overload, is the starter or if Exequiel Palacios replaces him.
I would also keep the doubt of whether Gonzalo Montiel is still on the right side of the defense or if Juan Foyth enters, within a possible more conservative game plan.
Lionel Scaloni on Thursday, at La Bombonera, closely following Leo Messi.
(AFP)
The confirmed loss is that of Paulo Dybala.
The Italian Juventus player was left out of the squad and traveled to Bolivia to continue recovering from an "abdominal box" that marginalized him from the presentation in Buenos Aires.
The Bolivian coach, the Venezuelan César Farías, designed a two-pronged strategy with the formation of two teams, one to play as a visitor and the other to play at home.
In La Paz, the plan was to have more experienced and accustomed men to the more than 3,600 meters of altitude of the city to suffocate visitors, based on speed.
# SelecciónMayor @ lioscaloni🎙️: "Drowning, all the players are going to drown. The issue is the feeling that each one has. We are doing everything possible so that they can arrive in the best way."
- Argentina National Team 🇦🇷 (@Argentina) October 12, 2020
For this, he wanted to have the players from the main western teams: Bolívar, The Strongest and Wilstermann.
However, the plan got complicated.
A struggle for the presidency of the Bolivian Football Federation, deprived the selected of the players of Bolívar and Wilstermann, the only ones filming for the Copa Libertadores, in the middle of the recess that since March has been imposed on Bolivian football by the pandemic.
The Venezuelan coach had to improvise an alternate team: a youth squad reinforced with some experienced 'legionaries' such
as forward Marcelo Martins and midfielder Alejandro Chumacero
, who stayed training in La Paz, while the other part of the squad faced Brazil.
Coach Cesar Farias in São Paulo, where Bolivia was beaten 5-0 by Brazil.
(AFP)
The first part of the plan did not work.
Farías promised to 'make history' in Brazil, but the team ended up beaten 5-0.
Martins (33 years old) is one of the team's leaders and
a regular Argentine executioner in La Paz, so much so that he scored three goals in the last three visits
.
He plays for Cruzeiro, a team that is currently penultimate in the Brazilian Second Division and is at risk of suffering its second relegation in a year.
In 2020, the forward only scored two goals in 17 games.
Marcelo Martins and Alejandro Chumacero were reserved to face Argentina.
(AFP)
The other reference is Chumacero (29), who is part of the Mexican Puebla squad, and has the advantage of playing in a city that is 2,100 meters above sea level.
Since the Qualifiers for France 1998, the form of competition in the Conmebol Qualifiers changed, since the format became everyone against everyone, so each of the nine South American teams accompanying the Bolivians had to go to La Paz .
In that period,
Bolivia played 52 home games, of which it won 23, drew 18 and lost 11.
Chile and Ecuador won three times each, Colombia did so twice, and the rest were for Argentina, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Brazil, Peru and Paraguay failed to prevail in the last six rankings.
In adversity and defeat, stronger than ever, head up and think about what is coming.
#vamosbolivia 🇧🇴 the most important match is the one that comes pic.twitter.com/hvT4TqRZDL
- Carlos Emilio Lampe (@ CarlosLampe1) October 10, 2020
Possible formations
Bolivia
: Carlos Lampe;
José Sagredo, José María Carrasco, Gabriel Valverde, Jesús Sagredo;
Erwin Sánchez, Raúl Castro, Diego Huayar, Alejandro Chumacero;
Jhasmani Campos and Marcelo Martins.
DT
: César Farías.
Argentina
: Franco Armani;
Gonzalo Montiel, Lucas Martínez Quarta, Nicolás Otamendi, Nicolás Tagliafico;
Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes, Exequiel Palacios, Lucas Ocampos;
Lionel Messi and Lautaro Martínez.
DT
: Lionel Scaloni.
Hours
: 5:00 p.m. (Argentine time).
TV
: TyC Sports and Public TV.
Referee
: José Haro (Peru).
Stadium
: Hernando Siles.
