Into Thin Air: Flamengo wants no more High Altitude Matches

No, Flamengo’s Luizinho (R), Jailton (C) and Leandro Salino are not reading People magazine while waiting to get their hair cut. The three players were using special oxygen masks to “train” ahead of their Copa Libertadores tilt against Bolivia’s Real Potosi on Wednesday. The Brazilians needed all the oxygen they could get playing to a 2-2 draw in a match that was played in Potosi, the world’s highest city at nearly 4,100 meters (13,451 ft) above sea level. After surviving the match, Flamengo likened to experience to blood doping and said they would never play at such an altitude again. This could be a precursor to come for Brazil’s players now that Peru has said they’d like to play their World Cup qualifiers high in the mountains.

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Category: South America, World Football