Flamengo will face today one of the most feared enemies in the Copa Libertadores: altitude. Their match against Bolívar will take place at the always challenging Hernando Siles stadium, located at 3,600 meters in La Paz.
To mitigate the effects of the altitude, coach Tite chose to arrive in the Bolivian capital at the last minute. The team first arrived in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, almost at sea level, before heading to La Paz hours before the match.
“Our strategy to arrive at the time of the match is to avoid what we call ‘acute mountain sickness.’ When you step into that altitude, you immediately start feeling breathless and hyperventilated,” said Fábio Mahseredjian, the physical trainer of the Rio de Janeiro team.
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Tite also chose to take care of the players, facing a busy schedule that included their previous match against Palmeiras, which ended goalless, and continues with the clash against Botafogo on Sunday, both in the Brasileirão.
Varela, Ayrton Lucas, Erick Pulgar, Giorgian de Arrascaeta, and Pedro will be preserved, while Allan, Léo Pereira, and Everton Cebolinha are ruled out for medical reasons. Among the regular starters, goalkeeper Agustín Rossi, Nicolás de la Cruz, and Bruno Henrique will be present.
The 62-year-old coach has had good experiences in his matches in La Paz. In 2016, as the coach of Brazil, he drew 0-0 against Bolivia, and in 2022, he won 4-0, in both cases in the South American qualifiers for the World Cup.
Chico, the Brazilian player who excites Bolívar
Fla has accumulated four points in the Libertadores, with a draw against Millonarios (Colombia) and a victory against Palestino (Chile). Bolívar, on the other hand, won the two matches they played, although they were recently eliminated in the semifinals of the local tournament against the newly promoted San Antonio Bulo Bulo.
One of their main goal-scoring assets is the Brazilian Francisco Da Costa. Trained at Atlético Paranaense, the 28-year-old forward known as Chico went through several clubs in the lower divisions of Brazil and the first division of Mexico before starting his experience at Bolívar two years ago.
Zagallo documentary
Sambafoot Series has launched a new documentary about the football legend Zagallo. Known as ‘Velho Lobo’ and as superstitious as it gets, Zagallo helped shape what Brazilian football is nowadays – as a player and as a coach. The first and second episodes is available in Sambafoot’s Youtube channel and the series will receive weekly releases to tell this legend’s life story.
