The Estadio Hernando Siles sits at an altitude of 3,637 metres in the suburbs of La Paz, Bolivia’s Andean capital. It is one of the world’s highest professional stadiums, and has a reputation for putting world class players on their haunches. After struggling to a 0-0 draw in October, Brazil’s Neymar Jr called the conditions ‘inhuman.’
At higher altitudes the air is thinner so there is less oxygen to breathe, making it more difficult to extract oxygen into your bloodstream. Altitude does not discriminate and can challenge even the most athletic, whilst not necessarily affecting older or less fit individuals. The acclimatisation process improves the delivery of oxygen to your muscles by producing extra red blood cells to help the flow of oxygen, eventually making it easier to function normally.
Altitude exposure is used by many top athletes during training. ‘Live high, train low’, helps the body to realise the benefits of increased hemoglobin brought on by the extra red blood cells. The typical altitudes used for such a regime are between 2000 and 2500m. Ethiopians, who are used to the 4000m+ highlands continue to dominate long distance running, whilst the Great Rift Valley in Kenya is a popular training ground for Olympian athletes. Studies show that red blood cell count only begins to increase after spending at least 3-4 weeks at altitude. Indeed, three years prior to the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, the US speed skating team went to live in Utah’s Deer Valley, at 2500m above sea-level and 1000m higher than the tournament’s venue. The team won eight medals, including three golds, breaking two world records in the process.
South American teams know what to expect when playing high in the Andes, and Bolivians have benefitted since football came to the continent. In the early 1890s, shortly after the British introduced football to South America, the construction of railways brought the game to Bolivia. Workers from the Antofogasta Railway Company in Chile were brought into contact with their counterparts in Bolivia’s Pulacayo through the transport of natural mineral resources, and there they played football at over 4000 metres above sea level. The Bolivian Indian labourers were at an advantage over their European chiefs, the latter having been consumed by altitude sickness, known locally as muyu-muyu.
Fast-forward over a century to 2007, and FIFA would ban matches taking place over 2500m, in order to ‘(1) avoid potential risks to player health, and (2) decreased performance and therefore injustice to the lowland team.’ The ban was withdrawn in 2008 following a complaint from the South American football federation, due to a lack of sufficient scientific data that altitude poses any risk to players’ health or lives, and the argument that players should be allowed to play where they live, regardless of the environmental conditions, whether that be an excess of heat, snow or altitude. This came as a relief to Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador, whose national stadiums are all 2500m above sea level, and who enjoy their atmospheric advantage.
In 2009, Argentina lost 6-1 in La Paz, and 4 years later Lionel Messi vomited on the pitch in a 1-1 draw, whilst his teammates paid frequent visits to the sidelines for oxygen. In the latest round of South American world cup qualification, Bolivia finished 9th, 12 points off the play-off spots, but maintained a home record to be proud of. Defeated only by Uruguay and fellow altitude junkies Colombia, Bolivia beat Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, and Peru (though the latter was eventually given to Peru as Bolivia fielded an ineligible player.) When playing away from home, Bolivia lost all nine matches, with both Brazil and last-placed Venezuela battering them 5-0. But for their lung-burning stadium and resilience to its effects, they are the worst team in South America.
And it’s not just the national team who benefit. Over the past 12 seasons of the Copa Libertadores, Bolivian sides have won 41 of their 88 home ties, with 23 draws. Away from home, they have won just 4 matches during that time, with 14 draws. In the quarter-finals of this year’s Copa, Bolivian side Jorge Wilstermann beat River Plate 3-0 at home, only to be beaten 8-0 away. In the very first Copa in 1960, the same side lost to Uruguayan outfit Peñarol 7-1 away, before claiming a 1-1 draw at home.
Domestically, the two most successful teams in Bolivia’s top flight have come from La Paz; Bolivar and The Strongest have won the league 31 times between them since its inception in 1977. The capital is the third most populous city in the nation, so altitude is likely a factor rather than a weighted population. On the other hand, almost 30% of Peruvians live in its capital, Lima, which continues to produce the country’s best sides, although this year Andean side Sport Rosario qualified unexpectedly for the Copa Sudamericana, ahead of some coastal giants.
Without the time to invest in long-term altitude training regimes, there is a long and often comical history of football teams trying to counter and short-cut the effects of altitude. In Argentina’s first qualifier for the 1970 World Cup, the squad travelled to La Paz 15 days early, but still lost 3-1, failing for the only time in their history to qualify for the tournament. Conversely, in 2015 Brazilian side Nacional arrived in La Paz only hours before kick-off in an attempt to minimise the effects of altitude, but after just 36 minutes midfielder Anderson was in an oxygen mask, and his side lost 3-1. In March this year, Argentina reportedly took Viagra before their match, a legal drug proven to improve athletic performance at altitude. They lost 2-0. Perhaps performance was enhanced elsewhere.
Cruzeiro physician Eduardo Pimenta says that ideally, teams would have to arrive a month before to be unaffected during the match. There is no way of telling how altitude will affect your body, especially at 3500m+. The only other way to reduce risk is by controlling the speed of your ascent, and we’re unlikely to see Messi and co making a slow hike up the Andes anytime soon.
Although, it does work both ways. A 2013 study showed that high altitude residents frequently report ‘malaise and dizziness’ when descending to low altitudes, and notably, a retrospective analysis of football matches over the past century suggests that players coming from high altitudes to play at sea-level are actually at a greater disadvantage. Furthermore, a study financed by the Bolivian Football Association suggests that there is a ‘physiological window’ within six hours of arrival, where natives to sea level should be able to play those native to altitude without being disadvantaged. Altitude causes a decline in the maximum amount of oxygen that an individual can utilise during intense exercise (a measurement known as VO2Max), and it was found that during this 6-hour window there was an 18% decline in VO2Max in lowland players, equal to those native to altitude. After six hours, the decline begins to expand to up to 24% in those native to sea level.
Altitude makes an anomaly of football and sport in general, confusing opponents and bookmakers the world over. It can fundamentally change the way sport must be played, and it can even change what can be achieved. In 1968, for example, American Bob Beamon smashed the long jump world record by over half a metre in Mexico City at 2,240m, where there’s less air resistance than at sea-level.
As Andean sides continue to ply their trade at dizzying heights, we must expect the unexpected from South American football, and enjoy the irregular results that altitude brings. Thanks to the all-important away-leg, it will take more for Bolivia’s national team and domestic sides to properly challenge the continent’s best. If Bolivia ever host the world cup, then book your tickets a month early, both players and fans.
