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Uphill battle Bolivia upends Brazil in high-altitude qualifier
Updated: Wednesday November 07, 2001 11:58 PM
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) -- Brazil, which has never missed the final round of the World Cup, was beaten by Bolivia 3-1 on Wednesday and missed its chance to qualify directly for the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan. Now, the four-time World Cup champions must beat Venezuela in the last round of qualifying Nov. 14 to qualify directly for this summer's tournament. "This was our final, and we showed nothing," Brazilian captain Emerson told Pele's website, Pele.net. "We shouldn't have let in goals like that. This was our classification match. Now we've left everything for later and that's going to be complicated." Brazil will battle Uruguay and Colombia for either fourth or fifth place in the region. If Brazil loses or draws against Venezuela, it can still advance if both Uruguay and Colombia draw or lose.
Brazil has 27 points while Uruguay follows with 26 points and Colombia has 24. If all three teams finish level on 27 points, Brazil would likely qualify directly on goal difference, with Uruguay finishing in fifth place and playing Oceania champion Australia in a playoff for another World Cup berth. Earlier Wednesday, Ecuador and Paraguay advanced to soccer's biggest tournament, joining group leader Argentina. Brazil is coming off its worst qualifying campaign in history, having lost to Ecuador, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina and Bolivia. The team traveled to Bolivia without four of its top players and in fear of the daunting altitude of La Paz, which sits nearly 12,000 feet above sea level. Brazil revisited history Wednesday, repeating their loss to Bolivia in La Paz in 1993, when Bolivia won 2-0. Brazil ended up winning the World Cup for the fourth time in 1994 in the United States. This time, Brazil's Edilson managed one goal, but it wasn't enough to match the two goals by Bolivian Julio Cesar Baldivieso and one by Lider Paz. Having long been out of the running for the World Cup, Bolivia at last found itself in front of an energetic crowd. Both teams had something to play for. Brazil was trying to qualify for the Cup, and Bolivia was trying to restart a streak of not losing at home. That streak was broken in October after a 20-year run when Ecuador humiliated Bolivia 5-1. That loss led to replacement of coach Jorge Habegger with former international goalkeeper Carlos Trucco. But Trucco looked calm Wednesday, trusting in his player's renewed energy and their almost surefire weapon -- the outrageously high La Paz stadium, nestled in the Andes Mountains. Trucco's serenity cracked in the 26th minute when Edilson shot in the game's first goal with ease. The precision was intimidating, especially after Bolivian players had made several unsuccessful attempts on their opponents' net throughout the first 25 minutes. But Bolivia's persistence paid off. In the 41st minute, Lider Paz combined solid footwork and speed to slam in a goal, bringing the noisy fans to their feet and the score to 1-1 to end the half. Bolivia's Julio Cesar Baldivieso ruled the field in the second half, shooting in a 30-meter goal in the 69th minute. Working on Adrenalin, Baldivieso then made it 3-1 in the 89th, bringing the Brazilians to their knees.
Lineups:BOLIVIA: Mauricio Soria, Luis Ribeiro, Juan Manuel Pena, Juan Carlos Paz Garcia, Percy Colque (Oscar Sanchez), Edgar Olivares, Richard Rojas, Gonzalo Galindo (Limberg Gutierrez), Julio Cesar Baldivieso, Joaquin Botero, Lider Paz (Jose Alfredo Castillo). BRAZIL: Marcos, Edmilson, Juan, Lucio, Cafu, Serginho, Emerson, Ze Roberto (Denilson), Vampeta (Silva), Rivaldo, Edilson. Referee: Luis Solorzano (Venezuela).
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