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E-mail Xinhua, September 6, 2024
Bolivia scored twice in each half to romp to a 4-0 home victory over Venezuela in their World Cup qualifier on Thursday.
Ramiro Vaca opened the scoring at the Municipal Stadium in El Alto with a long-range drive into the top-left corner and Carmelo Algaranaz doubled the advantage from the penalty spot after he was brought down by Jon Aramburu.
Miguel Terceros tapped in to make it 3-0 and Enzo Monteiro completed the rout with another close-range shot after Jose Sagredo's pass.
Bolivia manager Oscar Villegas praised his team's "change of direction" after a disappointing Copa America campaign in June and July.
"We saw that the squad was affected by the Copa America and there was a lot of pessimism," Villegas said. "Our priority was to try to do the basics well and work together as a team. I think we did that."
The result lifted Bolivia to eighth in the 10-team South American group with six points from seven qualifiers, three points behind Venezuela.
La Verde will meet Chile in their next qualifier in Santiago on Tuesday while Venezuela will host Uruguay in Maturin the same day.
"We know it's going to be a gradual process but this was a good first step. I was really encouraged by the performance of our young players," Villegas said.
"We want to be competitive against all of our opponents. We know that Chile are going to provide a big test and we have to be at our best to beat them."
