Bolivia prepare for Venezuela friendly

Twenty players have been recruited to the line-up of Bolivia's national team for the upcoming friendly match against Venezuela Aug 14, coach Xabier Azkagorta said.

The players will train in Santa Cruz in eastern Bolivia to get in at least two sessions before their match against Venezuela, reports Xinhua.

Leandro Maygua and Miguel Suarez from Bolivar, Miguel Rios and Henry Justiniano from Guabira and Pedro Azogue from Oriente Petrolero, are the junior players Azkagorta selected for the game.

The Aug 14 game is significant as it will be the team's only opportunity for a practice match before its qualifying matches in September in the lead-up to the 2014 Brazil World Cup.

The only veterans playing in the match are Marcelo Martins, despite an injury, Ronal Raldes and Jose Luis Chavez, who plays for Mexico's Atlas.

Asked about the absence of several veterans, the coach said nobody had been totally discarded.

"I can say there will be surprises in the next line-up due to our monitoring of players," Azkagorta told a radio station.

He added other players could be called, depending on their performance in the local tournament.

The teams supplying the most players to the lineup are Bolivar and The Strongest, both from La Paz, with a total of five players.