Mauricio Soria hopes his Bolivia players will have earned the respect of the rest of their Copa America opponents after their opening-fixture draw with Mexico.
A 0-0 stalemate with their more fancied rivals was a result few thought they were capable of, and ahead of a meeting with Ecuador in Valparaiso, Soria is hoping they will be taken seriously.
"We're happy with the work we have done," Soria told a media conference.
"Hopefully this match might be the result that gets us the respect we deserve.
"We believed that we had to try and win and we had three or four really good chances as the match developed.
"We need to put an emphasis on our recovery as we put in a strong, physical effort. We will face Ecuador and (final opponents) Chile with courage."
They come up against an Ecuador side which got off to a losing start when going down to host nation Chile 2-0.
Gustavo Quinteros' men did not look too uncomfortable but defensive lapses cost them, with Arturo Vidal scoring a penalty and Eduardo Vargas adding a late sealer.
"It was a game that helped us draw a lot of conclusions and will help us grow as a team during the tournament," Quinteros said.
"We struggled to settle for the first 20 minutes but after that we matched Chile and had two or three moments of danger.
"I am happy with the game from the first 20 or 30 minutes and I'm not thinking about the mistakes for the goals."
Source: PA
