Playing at 3,637-metres above sea level in Bolivia is no easy feat to accomplish, and when Brazil faced their fellow South American counterparts they felt the full effect of competing in the world’s highest matchday altitude after a 0-0 draw, rigging themselves up to oxygen tanks to ease fatigue – according to a report published by The Sun.
At such a dizzying, nauseating height, turning out at home was ultimately a major advantage for the Bolivians in their goalless World Cup qualifier against the formidable Brazilians, but the planet’s most expensive player Neymar was visibly less than impressed with the ‘Inhuman’ conditions.
Uploading on his Instagram account with a snap of his teammates hooked up to the O2 canisters, the Paris Saint-Germain ace said: “Inhuman to play in such conditions, field, altitude, ball .. everything bad.
“But we were happy for the performance of the team even with these conditions.”
However, speaking after his set-up’s fruitless 0-0 encounter with Bolivia, Brazil’s boss Tite said that he was ‘very happy’ with how his players coped on the field, and also offered his appreciation to his medical staff.
“Playing here is very difficult.” He claimed. “Strategically, I was very happy. We were upright, offensive. I want to emphasise this great performance. Happy for performance and upset about the result.
“I have to praise our professionals for all the logistics of the medical department that gave all the support to make people feel the effects less.”
Slumped in their chairs after the encounter, Brazil’s star-studded dressing room appeared as though they were already on the plane to Russia, and they may as well have been, given that they were way, way up in the clouds.