South American Nation Profile: Bolivia

By Alan
Soccer City FC

Bolivia's FIFA World Ranking: 69 (August 2008)

Soccer City FC starts its coverage of the World Cup in 2010 by looking at the South American nations vying for a place in the finals hosted in South Africa. The first country to be profiled is Bolivia.

Bolivia is not the most renowned name on the continent of South America, let alone the world but their fans have a passion for the game which is on par with any in the world. Unfortunately, this has not been met with success on the pitch and it does not look like changing during the current World Cup campaign.

The former Copa America winners have struggled to make an impact in their history, with recent years only bringing times of difficulty rather than of prosperity. The vision of Bolivia lining up at South Africa in 2010 appears to be disintegrating as the campaign is already one-third of the way through and they currently lie second-off bottom. The faithful are, however, hoping to salvage their qualifying campaign following a recent success over surprise leaders Paraguay - their first victory in the sole CONMEBOL group.

The nation’s moment of glory was in the Copa America in 1963, but it remains their only silverware to date and their only stand-out achievement since was gaining qualification to the World Cup in 1994. With only three World Cup qualifications to their name in their entire history, only Ecuador and Venezuela have a poorer record than Bolivia but it is their recent results in competitions which has been ultimately disappointing. Despite the honour of being present for the first World Cup back in 1930, they have since only progressed beyond qualification twice - in 1950 and more recently 1994. The structure of the CONMEBOL qualification group provides a fantastic opportunity for each nation to progress to the finals, with potentially five out of the ten countries proceeding to the elite international competition - a fact which must act as encouragement for Bolivia.

The situation Bolivia have found themselves in is a sense of frustration, with one factor particularly harming the development of both the national team and its domestic league. For many years there has been a lack of professionalism from those in charge of the game within Bolivia, with it being the only FIFA-sanctioned nation with three-separate entities. These are the Bolivian Football Federation, who are responsible for the national team, the Bolivian Professional League, who administer any professional club-level official tournaments, and finally the Professional Football Association, who are a union for all of the professional teams in the three divisions. It is this inadequately managed and poorly organised structure which is only bringing problems to the country‘s football. The selfish approach and constant clashing with one another will only continue to result in underachievement.

Hope can be drawn from a small batch of stars who could lift Bolivia’s fortunes. Marcelo Martins is Bolivia’s most gifted striker and can showcase his ability in Europe following a move to Ukrainian champions Shakhtahr Donetsk from Cruziero. Aged only 21, he has scored 43 goals in 68 league appearances for Vitória and Cruzeiro. Martins finished joint top goalscorer in South America’s Copa Libertadores in 2008 despite his club being knocked-out in the round of 16. Bolivia’s captain Ronald Raldes has been the rock in defence and the only ounce of consistency in the back four. His vision and positional sense made him an asset for his previous club Rosario Central, who were reluctant to see him leave but he is now playing for Saudi Arabian champions Al Hilal. Another player plying his trade in Asia is Juan Carlos Arce, who has been playing in Qatar and most recently in South Korea. Arce was criticised for his big-money move from relegated Brazilian giants Corinthians to Al-Arabi and his development has since stuttered. However, he played his role in Copa America 2007 by scoring against hosts Venezuela and has good technique and pace, but a move back to his homeland would be beneficial. Ronald Garcia, currently at Aris of Greece, has been a consistent presence for both club and country. Another promising young player is 19 year-old midfielder Jhasmani Campos. The Oriente Petrolero player operates on the wings for Bolivia and has become a significant player in their bid for qualification. European clubs are tracking his progress and it appears to be only a matter of time before he leaves South America. Campos is predicted to have a bright career ahead of him, especially on the international stage where he has been capped at all levels for his country. Campos scored in Copa America 2007 against Peru and made his debut in the same year against South Africa.

There is a stream of talented youngsters who have the potential to grace the country’s shirt in future years. Other youngsters hopeful of making a breakthrough soon or in future years are Luis Ali, a 13 year-old forward being pursued by Barcelona and Real Madrid, Eduardo Fierro who was due to be heading to the Dutch Eredivisie and Carlos Tordoya, a 20 year-old defender with great pace and technique.

Bolivia’s greatest asset in football has to be the productive Tahuichi academy, responsible for developing the backbone of the national team. It is internationally renowned for its excellent production line of talented players, not only from Bolivia but from South America and beyond. Quoted from the official website, ‘Since 1991, over 1,600 players, male and female, have taken the challenge of the Tahuichi Way Program. Players have come from the USA, Japan, Mexico, Costa Rica, Saudi Arabia, Panama, Canada, England, Wales, France, Bermuda, New Zealand and Sweden. These players are looking for impact. Not just for the moment, but for their entire lives. A commitment towards excellence with a tradition of winning.’ It is undoubtedly one of the most successful academies worldwide and in its three decades of existence it has ‘represented itself in over 125 top international soccer tournaments in the USA, Europe, Asia, and Latin America, where it has won 91 times, and come in second 14 times. A success rate of 85%. It has played more than 300 international games and has lost less than 35. Currently, over 60 Tahuichi graduates have signed lucrative professional contracts, including Platini Sánchez (Benfica, Portugal), Ko Ishikawa (Yarimuri, Japan), Marco Etcheverry and Jaime Moreno (DC United, USA), Joselito Vaca (Dallas Burn, USA), Juan Pena (Villareal, Spain) and Raul Medeiros (BK Hacken, Sweden). Eleven members of the Bolivian National Team are ex-Tahuichi.’ It is not only giving young people the chance to live out their dreams of becoming a professional footballer, but to better their lives through a morally-correct education. Praise from Pele and FIFA President Sepp Blatter is most definitely deserved. The Tahuichi academy continues to provide Bolivian football with a strong base of talented footballers that the national team depends upon. Without it, football in the nation would surely be much bleaker.

It has to be a case of onwards and upwards for Bolivian football. The potential is there in a small group of players, and if they are nurtured and live up to their promise then qualification for future World Cups will start to become a realistic target rather than a pipe dream. Gaining qualification for the 2010 World Cup appears to be unlikely, but if the fans’ hopes of the team finishing in a respectable position are realised then the future will look brighter. There is a need for professionalism within the Bolivian domestic game, the creation of a stronger league will improve the performances in club competitions such as Copa Libertadores and for the national team. However, there is no guarantee of Bolivia of improving, in reality the expectations of the young players may be too high and there is currently only a small talent of pool to select from. There are questions over the capabilities of the manager Erwin Sánchez, who needs to introduce consistency by selecting the same core group of players if they are to progress. On a higher note, in the team’s previous four matches they have encouragingly managed three victories, albeit two were friendlies. Bolivia’s next two fixtures are both away against Ecuador and an indifferent Brazil and 3 points from the former would show a signal of intent. The two matches against Peru, the only country beneath Bolivia, are must-win matches and gaining 6 points is essential.