Thomas Tuchel’s side have problems aside from the altitude: defeat in a Mexican haze would be no embarrassment
It’s a warm June afternoon in 2009.
The teams look uneven.
At 30, I am the second-oldest player in our lineup.
Lloyd, Nathan and Ben are early 20s – they can all play.
Micky the German isn’t in top condition, and at 34 is past his peak.
But at a conservative estimate every member of the opposition has two more decades in their legs.
A couple of them might be pushing 70.
They’re in boots – working boots, not “cleats”.
And yet after an hour we have been beaten to a pulp.
The final score evades my memory, but it might be the only six-a-side I’ve ever played in where “next goal wins” wasn’t a vaguely justifiable way to end things.
How had this team of old men beaten us?
A word you may have heard more often than usual in the last three days: altitude.
In a village somewhere near Lake Titicaca, just shy of 4,000m above sea level, a motley selection of Bolivian farmers had toyed with us.
As someone who lets the ball do the work, even a five-yard burst left me breathless.
It was not a neutral venue.
Continue reading...Sources: The Guardian
