Match Summary

The Bolivian and Ecuadorian national teams drew 2-2 today in La Paz, in a match where La Verde couldn't break the curse of 19 years without defeating La Tricolor in their own home, despite taking a comfortable lead with Pablo 'Pájaro' Escobar's brace.

Bolivian-Paraguayan Escobar scored both goals at 3 and 43 minutes, but Enner Valencia equalized the match at 48 and 89 minutes.

With the final 2-2 score, La Verde only managed to earn 8 out of 30 possible points in the South American qualifiers for the Russia World Cup.

The Ecuadorian national team, which seemed to start their tenth match asleep, now has 17 points and awaits the outcome of their neighbors at the top of the standings.

In the eleventh match, to be played on November 10th, Bolivia will visit bottom-placed Venezuela, while Ecuador will face Uruguay.

La Verde, led by Argentine Ángel Guillermo Hoyos, applied its usual tactic of suffocating the opponent from the beginning of the match and almost scored in the 1st minute, although Ramallo and Veizaga failed in their attempts.

The goal came three minutes later through a pass from Ramallo, who fought for the ball from the ground and managed to pass it to 'Pájaro' Escobar, who finished away from the box with a powerful shot.

After that goal, Bolivia seemed to rely on the slim lead and lost control of the match, failing to find a way to extend the scoreline.

Meanwhile, Ecuador didn't give up, on the contrary, they started to grow and intensify their attacking line, with dangerous arrivals from Martínez, Valencia, and Ramírez.

A few minutes before the end of the first half, 'Pájaro' Escobar appeared again, scoring the second goal for the Bolivian team after a good assist from international player Marcelo Martins Moreno.

The reduction for Gustavo Quinteros' team came in the second half, with a pass from Luis Antonio Valencia to Enner Valencia, who won the duel against goalkeeper Carlos Lampe.

The match became an uphill battle for Bolivia, as the Ecuadorians effectively closed the passage to their goal and continued to press for the equalizer.

Nervous, the home team also failed to take advantage of having an extra player after Luis Caicedo's expulsion for double yellow card in the 78th minute.

A combined play once again between the Valencias in the 89th minute gave Ecuador the equalizer, keeping them at the top and extinguishing Bolivia's hopes of approaching the pack of teams pursuing at least the fifth place, which grants the right to play the playoff with an Oceania opponent.

Match Details:

1. Bolivia:

Carlos Lampe; Erwin Saavedra, Ronald Raldes, Edward Zenteno, Marvin Bejarano (m.51, Jorge Flores); Walter Flores, Walter Veizaga, Pablo Escobar (m.85, Edemir Rodríguez), Rodrigo Ramallo (m.61, Yasmani Duk); Juan Carlos Arce and Marcelo Martins Moreno.

Coach: Ángel Guillermo Hoyos.

2. Ecuador:

Esteban Dreer; Juan Carlos Paredes (m.72, Ángel Mena), Arturo Mina, Luis Caicedo, Cristian Ramírez; Luis Antonio Valencia, Christian Noboa (m.81 Gabriel Achilier), Jefferson Orejuela (m.76, Matías Oyola), Renato Ibarra; Enner Valencia and Fidel Martínez.

Coach: Gustavo Quinteros.

Goals: 1-0, m.4: Pablo Escobar. 2-0, m.43: Escobar. 2-1, m.47: Enner Valencia. 2-2, m.89: E. Valencia.

Referee: Paraguayan Mario Díaz de Vivar expelled Caicedo for a second yellow card (m.71). He showed yellow cards to Mina, Ramallo, Jorge Flores, Martins Moreno, Enner Valencia, Arce, and Saavedra.

Incidents: Match for the tenth round of the South American qualifiers for the 2018 Russia World Cup held at the Hernando Siles Stadium, La Paz, at 3,600 meters above sea level.