The selection of bolivia, under the command of Venezuelan coach César Farías, thrashed Trinidad and Tobago 5-0 this Friday in the friendly preparation for the sixteenth day of the South American qualifying round for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. La Verde made their home team respected thanks to the annotations of Juan Carlos ‘Rabbit’ Maple (m.35), Rodrigo Ramallo (m.45), Marcelo Martins Moreno (m.53), Leonel Justiniano (m.63) and Bruno Miranda (m.87). La Verde played this friendly at the Patria stadium in Sucre, the capital of Bolivia and the city of Independiente Petrolero, the champion team of the last local tournament. The meeting began with a tribute to Bolivian goalkeeper Daniel Vaca, 43, who was given a shirt with his distinctive number, 19, for his contribution to La Verde, which is supposed to be the end of his cycle. in the selection.
Bolivia began with an offensive game and put pressure on the visiting team from the first minutes of the first half with approaches from Ramallo, the experienced Arce and striker Martins Moreno towards Foncette’s frame. One of the clearest plays was by Martins in the 23rd minute when he scored a goal that was disallowed for offside. As the match progressed, Farías’ men insistently tried to open the scoring until Arce scored the first penalty goal in the 35th minute after a foul in the area against Erwin Saavedra. The momentum of the Bolivians continued while the Trinidad and Tobago players, led by Angus Eve, showed no initiative in attacking. Near the end of the first half, a shot by Ramallo from outside the area converted the second goal.
At the beginning of the second half, Martins shot with the right foot from the center of the area with the assistance of Bruno Miranda, scoring the third goal. The fourth goal came in the 62nd minute with a header from Leonel Justiniano assisted by Martins with another header. And the rhythm of the Bolivians continued. Martins shot into the opposite frame and Bruno Miranda took advantage of the rebound of the ball to score the fifth goal in the 87th minute.
This duel was the prelude for La Verde to define the team that will visit Venezuela on January 28 and then receive Chile on February 1 for the double round of qualifying. La Verde finds itself with 15 points in a hard-fought South American tie and aspires to win some of the places.
Bolivia returned to this sports field after two decades, which generated a high expectation from the fans who filled the 50% capacity by presenting their vaccination card against covid-19 or a negative PCR test.