This Wednesday, from 9 p.m., Boca makes its debut in the Copa Sudamericana at the beginning of Group D. The presentation before Potosí National, of Bolivia, has a peculiarity: it will be disputed in the Víctor Agustín Ugarte stadium, which is 3885 meters above sea level, a height at which the xeneize club has never played in its history and with just three antecedents for the Argentine teams. None did it on more than that scale.
This multipurpose field located in the city of Potosí is located in southwest Bolivia and is the second highest stadium authorized by Conmebol for international competitions. Built in 1992 with an athletics track between the stands and the playing field and last remodeled in 2008it was previously known under two other names –San Clemente and Mario Mercado Vaca Guzmán– until acquiring the current name, in homage to one of the most important forwards in the history of Bolivia, who was part of the 1963 Copa América champion team and had a brief stint in Argentina when he was hired by San Lorenzo.
Although Víctor Agustín Ugarte died in 1995, his legend continues in force in the 103m and 66m stadium with a permitted capacity for 28,000 spectators in which Boca will play, on a field with some areas with little grass and others that were being filled in to cover some holes. To get there, The Xeneize delegation had to undertake a journey of almost 160 kilometers in 4×4 trucks from Sucre to climb the 1100 meters that separate both cities, with stops to cool off a little. Thus, the players, the coaching staff and some leaders divided up in threes in vehicles equipped with oxygen to brave a road that was at times winding and dangerous, with almost no telephone signal and escorted by the police of that country.
The Ugarte stadium has been the scene of international tournaments since the projection of Real Potosí, that qualified three times for the group stage of the Copa Libertadores and in two of them they faced San Lorenzo. El Ciclón lost 1-0 on their visit in 2002 and his fans remember very especially the 3-2 victory in 2008. That night, the Barça team seemed to be in the middle of a nightmare, but they got the necessary oxygen to change the course of the scoreboard, take the victory and direct their qualification to the round of 16 of the tournament.
San Lorenzo’s victory in 2008
Now, the one that is living its days of grace in the international arena is Nacional Potosí, which lost the head-to-head match with El Nacional, from Ecuador, to reach the Libertadores and is in the group stage of the Sudamericana for the first time. In one of his attempts to reach Students crossed his path, who eliminated it with a 1-0 success in Boliviahere’s another 2-0 in La Plata. It was in 2017, when Pincha won the first leg at 3885 meters with a goal from Lucas Rodríguez 10 minutes left.
The triumph of Estudiantes over Nacional Potosí
By then, Students applied the same logistics as Boca and went directly to the stadium in the previous hours without staying the night before in the city. A curiosity? The coaching staff brought in a Brujo, Manuel Valdez, who “did a fundamental little job behind the goal.” A world champion in Qatar 2022 played the entire match: Juan Foyth.
Hoy, Nacional Potosí, directed by Claudio Biaggio and wearing a white shirt with the red band like River’s, He is Boca’s rival in that stadium, only surpassed in height among those approved by Conmebol by the Municipal del Alto, in Villa Ingenio, at 4083 meters, also in Bolivia. The South American entity authorized it this year, which is why in 2022, when the xeneize visited Always Ready for the Libertadores, they met at the Hernando Siles, located in La Paz, at 3,650 meters, where the Bolivian national team traditionally plays.
To face Nacional Potosí, coach Diego Martínez traveled with a squad with a majority of substitutes and youth players. And in on his 119th birthday, Boca would come out onto the field with Leandro Brey; Lautaro Di Lollo, Aaron Anselmino, Nicholas Valentini, Marcelo Saracchi; Jabes Saralegui, Maurice Benitez, John Ramirez; Norbert Briasco, Darius Benedetto and Lucas Janson.