Bolivia to attend 2016 Centennial Copa America

Bolivia's football team will leave for the United States on May 26 to participate in the international 2016 Centennial Copa America tournament which will run from June 3 to 26.

Bolivian Football Federation (FBF) president Rolando Lopez said on Saturday that he hoped the team is able to fulfill a training plan and that it will not affect the local league preparation, reports Xinhua.

"The delegation will leave in two groups for the United States on May 26. They will head to Kansas City to first play friendlies with other teams and then they will face the international competition," said Lopez.

According to FBF, the Bolivian team will play a friendly in Kansas City on May 28 against the US ahead of the tournament.

Bolivia will play their first match in the 2016 Centennial Copa America on June 6 against Panama in Orlando. The two Latin American countries are part of Group D along with Argentina and Chile.

Twenty-six teams will participate in the 2016 Centennial Copa America, including the 10 South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) members -- Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

These teams will be joined by six members from the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football Concacaf), including the US who will host the tournament and have previously won the Concacaf Gold Cup in 2013.

Six times winners of the Gold Cup, Mexico, and the 2014 champion of the Central American Cup, Costa Rica, will also participate in the tournament.

Lopez said coach Julio Cesar Baldivieso has included six new players in the preliminary list which includes 40 players.

Training will take place in the central city of Cochabamba, according to Lopez, while Baldivieso said on Friday that Santa Cruz is also an option.

--IANS

sam/vt