Bolivia and Paraguay tied 2-2 at the Municipal Villa Ingenio stadium, in the city of El Alto, on matchday 12 of the South American Qualifiers. Gustavo Alfaro's team knew how to be strong at altitude and tied the match twice, to continue showing power. A match that had goals and controversies at the end of 2024. This was the first time that Bolivia has not been able to win since it made the decision to leave La Paz to face its matches in El Alto, located at 4,150 meters: until this tie it had defeated Venezuela (4-0) and Colombia (1-0). The always complicated Verde at home, knew how to strike first at the start of the match. Ervin Vacca received on the left and without problem hit Roberto Fernández under the three posts at 15 minutes. La Albirroja's performance did not show much and did not know how to get close to the rival area. Only a minimal chance on the head of Matías Galarza was about to give it the tie. Bolivia had two more chances at the end of the first half. The first, Roberto Fernández, who missed a one-on-one with the Paraguayan goalkeeper. The second, Carmelo Algarañaz, who tried to tip it in at the edge of the area, but the ball went over the crossbar. But to add excitement to the second half, which started off smoothly, the Paraguayan figure appeared. Miguel Almirón, with 20 minutes left, connected with a good collective play and finished in front of the goal to tie the game and make the substitutes' bench explode. However, the joy did not last long. Just a few minutes later, a foul by Gustavo Gómez on Lucas Chávez resulted in a penalty for Bolivia. The one in charge of scoring was Miguel Terceros, but he did not take it from above: it ignited the scandal in the visiting team, which continued with the complaints and delayed the progress of the game. But it seems that the complaints served to make Alfaro's team even hungrier, who fought against the altitude and closed out a great game. At 91, with eight minutes of added time already underway, Julio Enciso appeared and put the final 2-2, with a taste of victory: from outside the area, after good driving, he shot at the angle to the second post and, now yes, he received the ovation of all his teammates. In this way, Paraguay closes 2024 in fifth place in the standings, more than qualified for the 2026 World Cup, with 17 points. Bolivia, on the other hand, did not manage to add three and lost the chance to get into the top. For now, it is seventh, the playoff spot. For more information, visit http://www.tycsports.com