Brazil’s breathtaking football 12,000ft above sea level!

BRAZIL’S stars were left fighting for breath and using oxygen masks after a gruelling 0-0 draw with Bolivia on a pitch almost 12,000 feet above sea level. The World Cup qualifier was played at the once-banned Estadio Hernando Siles in La Paz in conditions that captain Neymar called ‘inhumane’. He said: ‘Inhumane to play in such conditions: field, altitude, ball . . . everything bad.’ The 41,143-seat stadium was

banned in 2007 from hosting World Cup qualifiers when FIFA ruled such games could not take place higher than 8,200ft (2,500m) above sea level. FIFA relented a month later after a Bolivian campaign and lifted the ban despite claims the lack of oxygen gave a distinct advantage to more acclimatised players. Brazil had already qualified for next year’s finals in Russia while second-bottom Bolivia are out of the running. Brazil are the only team to have played in every World Cup since the first in Uruguay in 1930. Argentina are on the verge of missing the World Cup for the first time since 1970, with Lionel Messi and Co stumbling to a 0-0 draw against Peru before a capacity crowd in Buenos Aires. Argentina, runners-up in the World Cup three years ago in Brazil, play Ecuador on Tuesday night (Wednesday 12.30am BST) in the thin air of Quito, 9,000 feet up in the Andes. The Argentines are in sixth place, with the top four teams advancing automatically. The fifth-place team can qualify by winning a play-off against Oceania champions New Zealand. That will leave two teams trying to reach the play-off, which is Argentina’s most likely route. Provided they beat Ecuador, Argentina will automatically qualify if Colombia draw in Peru. They can also finish in the top four if Colombia or Peru take all three points and Chile fail to win in Brazil — but if Chile win and there is no draw in Peru, an Argentina win could only be enough for a play-off spot, due to their inferior goal difference.