Breathless

Not since Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid were gunned down in a murderous hail of bullets has Bolivia witnessed such a massacre. High amidst the Andes mountain peaks, Argentine coach Diego Maradona must have felt similar pain to the two legendary, American wild west outlaws who were finally hunted down, surrounded and killed by the Bolivian cavalry in a small mountainous settlement called San Vicente, 99 years previous.

In the immediate aftermath of Argentina's staggering defeat Maradona cut a stunned figure at the post-match press conference. As the Argentines licked their wounds in what was their heaviest defeat since Colombia thrashed them 5-0 in 1993, and worst in sixty years their coach spoke both honestly and with passion as to his feeling.

'I suffered with them', he claimed. 'Every Bolivian goal was like being stabbed in the heart'. However Maradona refused to blame the obvious excuse of high altitude, despite this being a clear advantage for the home side. Appearing himself short of breath he said 'The altitude was not the issue; we simply came up against a better team'.

In many ways Maradona had already hoisted himself from his own petard with well documented past support for Bolivia in being allowed to play their matches in La Paz. The world's highest capital city. Much more worrying would have been the performance of the team and in particular the defence. Javier Zanetti and a hopelessly out of sorts Gabriel Heinze being of grave concern.

Set 12,000 feet above sea level, Bolivia's advantage in the stifling air against breathless opponents is a fierce subject of debate on the South American continent. So it proved once more as the Estadio Hernando Siles in La Paz played host to this sensational encounter. An Argentine side containing the likes of Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez never knew what hit them.

An incredulous 40,000 crowd watched in disbelief as a woeful Argentina were put to the sword by this side lying second from bottom of the qualification group. The fact Maradona's squad arrived in Bolivia only two hours before kick off, whilst the host nation had spent an entire week locked away in altitude at a special training camp, preparing specifically for the match become apparent from the first whistle.

Showing scant respect for their highly lauded South American cousins Bolivia tore into Argentina. They fired an early warning when keeper Juan Carrizo saved spectacularly from home striker Marcelo Moreno's fiercely struck shot, and with a fanatical crowd baying for Argentine blood, Moreno again found space on 11 minutes inside the area to shoot past a diving Carrizo, igniting the Hernando Siles.

Sensing the visitor's distress in dealing with the thin air the home grown Bolivians, obviously more suited to the conditions stormed forward and moments later almost doubled their lead when midfielder Didi Torrico crashed a long-range effort against a besieged Carrizo's crossbar. With Maradona cutting a fraught figure on the touchline, shots rained into Carrizo's goal from all angles. The Bolivian tactic in this rarefied air where the ball would twist and swerve in devilish manner, a blatant ploy of shooting on sight.

With legs heavy beyond belief, reflexes weak and lungs simply exhausted over a five yard burst disaster inevitably loomed. As the famed 'Albiceleste' floundered and flattered to deceive against a determine under-dog they were handed a huge dose of good fortune when midway through the first half Luis Gonzalez somehow beat Bolivian keeper Carlos Arrias from twenty-five yard with what appeared a meandering effort. However a cruel bounce misled Arrias with the ball ending up in the net.

Suddenly a one-way contest became much more open as the Argentines prompted by the scheming of the remarkable Messi began to create their own opportunities. Yet it was Bolivia who scored again when on 33 minutes they were awarded a penalty when Javier Zanetti committed footballing suicide with a crazy challenge inside his own box. Showing huge calm Joaquin Botero who plies his trade in the Mexican second division stepped up to crash past Carrizo with ease.

Playing with a dash and confidence that belied their lowly status Bolivia continued to attack at break neck speed and terrify the Argentine rearguard. Further rewards came in injury time of the first half when Brazilian born Alex Da Rosa thumped a dramatic header past Carrizo making it 3-1.

The break proved only brief respite for Argentina as an on-fire Bolivia threatened to embarrass them further. On 54 minutes Botero grabbed his second and Bolivia's fourth with a brilliant header past Carrizo. Wilting visibly by the moment Maradona's men were reduced to ten when young Benfica superstar Angel Di Maria was sent off for violent play.

'Albiceleste' frustration clear to all as the player ironically nicknamed the 'little Angel', whom had only just entered the pitch as a substitute was shown a straight red by Uruguayan referee Martin Vasquez. Game over. By now a simple question of how many?

The twice world champions had all but surrendered the white flag and two minutes after Di Maria's dismissal Botero completed a historic hat trick by taking advantage of a shocking lapse in the Argentine defence and firing past a hapless Carrizo. The centre-forward for Correcaminos (Road Runners) in the backwaters of Mexican football had carved for himself a notch in Bolivian football legend. The score now an astonishing 5-1! And it was not yet over.

Diego Maradona watched with arms behind his back, looking bereft and in need of divine inspiration. Back in Buenos Aires events in Boliva would soon by described by hysterical newspaper headlines such as Cronica's 'Tsunami in La Paz'! Or Ole's 'Get me a calculator'!

Suddenly for Diego Maradona his triumphal return as the Prodigal Son was over. Heartening wins over France in Paris and a 4-0 rout of Venezuela on home soil with Messi giving a performance reminiscent of Maradona in his pomp would be forgotten. Here above the clouds, closer to heaven than earth, a shattered and bewildered Argentina were being slaughtered.

With just four minutes remaining the coup de grace came when Bolivian defender Didi Torrico drove home a well hit sixth goal from outside the penalty area to leave a despairing Carlos Arrias close to tears and fellow countrymen utterly shell-shocked. The final whistle signalled wild scenes of joy as the greatest day in Bolivian football history reached a tumultuous crescendo.

Speaking generously of his thrashed opponents Bolivia coach Erwin Sanchez took time to praise Diego Maradona for his sportsmanship in defeat but talked also of how they may have attributed to their own downfall. 'They tried to play their instinctive attacking game and that helped us a lot', he said.

The fall out from this dramatic encounter has seen Argentina drop to fourth and now left with a real fight on their hands to secure automatic qualification for South Africa. A fifth place finish would mean playing off over two legs against a team from the CONCACAF region. Sixth would mean the unthinkable and possible mass lynching across Buenos Aires by missing out for the first time since 1970.

Maradona's honeymoon period with the Argentine media is well and truly over and now all thoughts turn to the remaining fixtures. These are away to Equador (another high altitude location), and an equally difficult trip to a revitalised Paraguay, who currently lead the group and look red hot favourites to stay there.

But more dramatically the last two games, home to deadly rivals Brazil then the short journey to a place where they are hated like no other. Across the river to Montevideo and arch enemies Uruguay. How they would dearly love to twist the knife deep?

The weight of history leans heavy now on the shoulders of Argentina's and arguably the worlds greatest ever footballer. Those who claimed when the pressure reached boiling point Argentina's coach would wither and die now await with gleeful anticipation the emotional meltdown of Diego Armando Maradona.

But such is the manner in which an astute Maradona has so far dealt with the massacre in La Paz, his desire in leading Argentina to a third world cup triumph remains more than a pipe dream. 'We start again', he claims.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid went to Bolivia for easy pickings, thinking themselves invincible. They were wrong and paid a deadly price. For Argentina and Diego Maradona the shootout now truly begins.