Bruno Miranda has been included in Bolivia’s 26-man squad for their final two World Cup qualifiers. The D.C. United attacker, who currently has 3 caps, will join his national team for games against Brazil (October 5th, in La Paz) and Uruguay (October 10th, in Montevideo). There’s a solid chance that Miranda won’t miss any time, as United will have 15 days between their September 30th game in Columbus and October 15th’s game in Oregon against the Portland Timbers.
Bolivia is currently ninth out of ten CONMEBOL countries vying for four automatic World Cup bids and one playoff spot. However, it has been a rough cycle for La Verde, who along with Venezuela are already mathematically eliminated. That reality is reflected in Mauricio Soria’s squad, which has four teenagers (including Miranda) and seven total players under the age of 23.
Miranda is also one of the few players on the team plying his trade outside of the Bolivian league. Carlos Lampe (Chilean side Huachipato), Jhasmani Campos (Thai League 1 club Bangkok Glass FC), and Marcelo Martins (Wuhan Zall of the Chinese second division) make up the rest of that group. By contrast, Bolivian powerhouse The Strongest had six players called in for these games.
The full squad is below:
[#Elimnatorias] Nómina de jugadores del profesor Mauricio Soria para encarar las fechas 17º y 18º con un promedio de 25.8 años#VamosBolivia pic.twitter.com/VhLN7Iq3Aw
— FBF (@fbf_oficial) September 25, 2017