Bolivia 1 - Venezuela 1

The pitch in La Paz may never have been in a worse condition than it was on this day as Venezuela paid a visit to Bolivia.  Luis Manuel Seijas playing left back was an odd sight for Venezuela, but the full-time midfielder only committed one poor play and that was when he gave up a free kick from the corner of the penalty area.  The quality of football is usually low in qualifiers in La Paz as it is due to the thin air and the long flight of the ball, but the unavailability of ground passing made this affair a messy one.  Neither team developed anything through the midfield at any point during the match.  The strategy was to send long balls out of defense up top in the hopes of drawing free kicks and corner kicks.  As it was, set pieces did prove the difference in this match.  Venezuelan captain and left winger Juan Arango sent in a booming free kick from over forty yards that led to a nasty rebound that lay on the doorstep for Richard Blanco (pictured, maroon), but he could not convert under pressure from two defenders.  Venezuela had another chance after Arango headed a Roberto Rosales cross into Blanco's path, but Bolivia goalkeeper Sergio Galarza blocked the shot with his chest.  The half ended without any goals having been scored.

Venezuela finally got their goal off a driven corner kick from Cesar Gonzalez that was flicked on by Blanco and seemingly lost no pace on its way to Arango.  Arango headed home to give Venezuela a 1-0 lead that had the team believing that they could finally make it to a FIFA World Cup finals.  In spite of their dominance, Venezuela could not maintain the intensity any longer, and Bolivia enjoyed complete dominion over the affairs in the final twenty minutes.  A corner kick conceded with five minutes to play proved costly to Venezuela.  Jhasmani Campos was completely unmarked in the box, and after Venezuela goalkeeper Renny Vega whiffed on his punch, Campos had a simple headed finish to equalize.  Bolivia went for the victory, but no more goals were to be found.  Ronald Eguino was ejected for Bolivia deep into stoppage time.  The match ends in a 1-1 draw.

Goals
Venezuela
Juan Arango 58

Bolivia
Jhasmani Campos 86

Match Reports:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gzbkAGQjq3b9XvH9ZOYISLooqXXw?docId=CNG.adce2fdad268dcd7e0362f4d68929b84.1001

Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6QDd_E6i7s