High Plains Soccer

I was talking to some South American friends today. I'll pass on some sage advice for those of you who are not Bolivians and who may possibly find yourselves playing a World Cup qualifying match in Bolivia for your country's national soccer team. If you play in La Paz, the match will be played at about 12,500 feet above sea level (keep in mind that athletes complain about oxygen deprivation when playing games in Denver, where the altitude is a mere 5,280 feet). Soccer teams accustomed to playing at much lower altitudes have apparently discovered two effective tactics for dealing the altitude of La Paz. One tactic is to arrive in Bolivia one or two weeks before the match to allow the players to adjust to the altitude. The other approach is to arrive in Bolivia a few hours before the match, in which case the players seem to be unaffected by the altitude. NOTE: This entry relates to experiences that took place on February 19, but was posted on March 9.