If former Manchester United midfielder Anderson was hoping to prove at Internacional that jibes about his fitness were unjustified, his latest outing couldn’t have gone much worse.
The 26-year-old moved back to Brazil earlier this month after falling drastically out of favour at Old Trafford, with question marks swirling in the press about his diet and lifestyle.
So it was perhaps little wonder that the high altitude of La Paz did not prove the ideal location for his most high profile match to date with Inter.
Anderson lasted 36 minutes of a Copa Libertadores match against The Strongest before having to withdraw, then calling for an oxygen mask as his side slipped to a 3-1 defeat. To be fair to him, he’s not the first footballer to struggle in Bolivia – La Paz is roughly 3,650 metres above sea level and a notoriously difficult venue to visit.
Mind you, things didn’t go too well when he was playing a lot closer to sea level either – he missed a penalty against Cruzeiro on his debut last week.
His last start for United, who paid a reported £20 million for him back in 2007, was the 4-0 loss to MK Dons in the Capital One Cup back in August.
Source: SNAPPA
