La Paz, March 13 (IANS): Bolivia's football team will start preparing for its upcoming FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 South America Qualifiers against Colombia and Argentina from March 15, according to head coach Julio Cesar Baldivieso.

The Bolivian coach on Saturday announced a teamlist of 34 players on March 9 for the match against Colombia at home in the Hernando Siles Stadium, here on March 24 and the one away to Argentina on March 29 in Cordoba, reports Xinhua.

According to Baldivieso, all players mentioned in the teamsheet should show up at the team hotel on Tuesday morning. The first training session will take place that same afternoon on the pitches at the La Paz Football Association.

Baldivieso sees these two matches as crucial if Bolivia want to continue their chances of qualifying for the World Cup 2018 in Russia.

Training will begin without the selected players from local teams Oriente Petrolero, Bolivar and The Strongest as they all have matches with their clubs on Wednesday.

The five over-21 players, allowed by the Olympics organisers, will also join the training sessions a bit later.