The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, affirmed today that his country's team has a "historic mission" in the match against Chile, of the sixteenth round of the South American qualifying phase for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

"Brothers of the team, you have a historic mission, it is for our beloved Bolivia, worthy and sovereign," Morales wrote on his Twitter account, @evoespueblo.

The president accompanied his message with a photograph of a past match between both teams. Bolivia will face Chile in the next hours at the Hernando Siles stadium in La Paz, at an altitude of over 3,600 meters.

The match acquired a special nuance in the last days due to the ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which confirmed the loss of points for Bolivia due to the improper qualification of Paraguayan-Bolivian Nelson Cabrera in the seventh and eighth rounds.

The sanction was applied by FIFA following a complaint from Peru and Chile, who were opponents of Bolivia in the rounds in question. In addition, there are political tensions between Bolivia and Chile, especially due to Bolivia's century-old claim for sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean lost in a war in 1879.

The coach of Bolivia, Mauricio Soria, has affirmed that today's match is not "a war" nor is it related to a "political issue," in an effort to reduce extradeportive tensions.

A few days ago, Soria also pointed out that although Bolivia no longer has a chance to qualify for the World Cup in Russia, they need to win "because the country also wants it" and this match is an opportunity to do "something very positive" and show the team's evolution.

The international forward Marcelo Martins Moreno, one of the references of the Verde, has assured that the duel can be considered a "world classic" due to the sporting and extradeportive rivalry that surrounds Bolivia-Chile matches. "No matter how, but we have to win," Martins said.

Chile is in the qualifying zone for the World Cup with 23 points, the same as Argentina, and behind Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay; while Bolivia is in the penultimate place with 10 units.