In La Paz, Bolivia, more than 10,000 feet above sea level, the air is so thin you can almost see Argentina's World Cup qualification hopes floating away.
It's not over yet, of course, but after a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Bolivia and with Lionel Messi suspended for three of Argentina's four remaining qualifiers, it's not looking good.
We still don't know what Messi said to the assistant referee after Argentina's 1-0 win over Chile Thursday, but whatever it was got him a four-match suspension, curiously announced just six hours before the Bolivia match.
Argentina are much worse without Messi, and every team is much worse when they have to play in La Paz, and those factors combined to give Bolivia a comfortable victory. Argentina's players reportedly took a combination of paracetamol, caffeine and Viagra to combat the altitude. Maybe they should have taken more.
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