EL ALTO, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivia has always been a difficult place to gamble.

Now the challenge is even greater. In the truest sense of the word.

The men’s national football team hopes that playing World Cup qualifiers at a higher altitude than ever before will help them improve their position in the South American table.

The Bolivians normally play in the capital, La Paz, at 3,640 metres above sea level, but the South American football association CONMEBOL has allowed them to move their games to El Alto, the country’s second-largest city at an altitude of 4,150 metres – as high as nine Empire State Buildings stacked on top of each other.

With one win and five losses, Bolivia is second to last in the table and needs a win on Thursday against Venezuela, which is in fifth place and has just come from the quarter-finals of the Copa America.

New Bolivian coach Oscar Villegas will make his debut after replacing Antonio Carlos Zago, who was sacked in July following a winless Copa. Villegas hopes to take advantage of the altitude by fielding a squad in which 80% of the players are used to the thinner air, including six from the Always Ready club in El Alto and another six from Bolívar in La Paz.

“Football is about details. That doesn’t mean we’re going to win with this (stadium change),” said Villegas, a former La Paz striker. “We try to take care of details that allow us to be more effective.”

“In El Alto we will try to play as intensely as possible and show them that they are playing on a new pitch where we were unbeatable,” said Villegas, referring to local teams that play there in club competitions such as the Copa Libertadores and the Sudamericana. “The psychological and emotional aspect also plays a role, that is something that will help us a lot.”

The El Alto Municipal Stadium, which only opened in 2017, is considered a jewel in the Bolivian highlands. On its green lawn, the phrase “You play where you live” is written in white markings.

The oval-shaped El Alto Stadium, which seats 24,000, is smaller than the 40,000-seat Hernando Siles Stadium in La Paz, but El Alto is 560 metres (1,840 feet) higher.

Bolivian Football Federation president Fernando Costa said the stadium was currently being tested to see how players reacted and whether El Alto could be used as a permanent venue for home matches.

Venezuela’s home games are played at sea level. While the country has not complained about the change of venue, it is taking action.

Venezuela coach Fernando Batista has included in his provisional squad of 47 players some players who play in cities where the game is played at high altitude, including goalkeeper Alain Baroja of Bolivian club Always Ready. The Venezuelans are preparing with oxygen breathing exercises and acclimatization in hyperbaric chambers.

Not everyone agrees that top-class football should be played at high altitudes.

Tite, the coach of Brazilian club Flamengo, says it is “difficult” to play at this altitude after losing 1-0 to Bolívar in the Copa Libertadores round of 16 in La Paz two weeks ago.

In 2007, FIFA criticised matches at the altitude of La Paz and ruled that international matches could not be played above 2,750 metres. However, the following year FIFA backtracked after Bolivia objected, as most stadiums are at that altitude.

“The field was approved by CONMEBOL because it meets all the requirements they set,” Edmundo Vargas, El Alto’s municipal sports director, told the Associated Press.

However, there is little research into playing football at an altitude of over 4,000 meters, as will be the case on Thursday.

“We always recommend that every athlete undergo a medical examination and undergo an adaptation phase before staying at high altitudes,” says Jesús Jiménez, a researcher at the Bolivian Institute of High Altitude Biology.

He expressed skepticism about claims that the altitude gives Bolivia an advantage over other teams, noting that “Bolivia has lost on home soil before.”

Bolivia has not qualified for the World Cup since 1994.

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AP Football: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer