Bolivians upset with Brazil coach over altitude comment

Updated Mar. 29, 2022 5:49 p.m. ET

Associated Press

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil coach Tite complained about playing in the altitude of Bolivian capital La Paz and is now under fire from the hosts of Tuesday night's World Cup qualifier between the two teams.

Brazil will face Bolivia in a match that won’t change their destiny — the visitors have already secured their spot in Qatar and the hosts will play for their pride.

Tite said Monday that his team will be less aggressive because soccer at more than 3,600 meters (almost 12,000 feet) of altitude in La Paz is too harsh.

“We won't have such a vertical team as in previous matches because we can't. It is inhuman, there's not such a possibility,” Tite said. “Of course we can't play with the same pace, same speed we have at home matches or in regular circumstances.”

Former Bolivian President Evo Morales was one of the critics of the Brazilian coach, saying he rejects the “inhuman” description for matches where “millions of people live.”

“Greatness is found in words, that is why we remember the great Diego Armando Maradona, who once said we have to play where we were born,” Morales said on Twitter before the match.

Marco Etcheverry, a former Bolivia forward who played in the 1994 World Cup, also criticized Tite.

“I hope they score four goals due to these excuses they are giving,” Etcheverry said. “To speak about the altitude when they are already in the World Cup... that's cowardly. That troubled me a lot.”

Current Brazil and Bolivia players did not comment the rift.

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