'We Played Against The Refs, The Police And Ball Boys' - Brazil Is Blaming Bolivia's Ball Boys Of Shenanigans, Screwing Them During A World Cup Qualifier Loss

[Translation] - The 4088 meters of altitude at the Municipal Stadium, where Bolivia and Brazil faced off on the night of this Tuesday, were not the only trick up the sleeves of the home team. To keep alive their chance of going to the World Cup, the Bolivians did almost everything in the match against the Brazilian national team, in El Alto. There was a deflated ball, a disappeared ball, a ball camouflaged behind a sign, a ball hidden under a bench. Street soccer style!

Oh hell yeah, love a good blame session after a loss.

[Source] - Balls were thrown onto the pitch in the last stages of the game to disrupt Brazil's attacks.

"Officials have to control that," Ancelotti said. "Not players, coaches, or the president."

Xaud added: "Even at this altitude of 4,000 meters, we played against the referees, the police, and the ball boys, who were taking the balls off the field and putting them on the field. It was a real mess. This isn't what we expect for world football or South American football. What we want is to grow even further.

Now it ultimately didn't matter because Brazil still qualified for the World Cup, but it mattered 100% for Bolivia. They needed to win and Venezuela drop points in order to make the playoff. That's exactly what happened since Colombia beat Venezuela 6-3. Then you get this. It's an incredible rant, especially blaming police and ball boys. I respect a good grudge and that's what we have here from Brazil's leaders. 

What you can't do is blame Bolivia for anything. They have a home game, you use anything and everything to your advantage. It's the whole point of any home field advantage with batshit crazy fans. You bring in your ball boys who will hide them if need be, throw some on the field to disrupt play or deflate them. I'm not one to harp on any sort of deflategate but I can't believe we're getting this in CONMEBOL. If you want to make a playoff for a chance to make the World Cup, you gotta get the whole country involved. This isn't some pansy sport, you gotta sell every call and every part of the game. Fair play that Brazil also fired back demanding an investigation and how it was a mess. Love everything about this.