James Rodriguez It’s not like it was four years ago. Not even the one from 8 years ago. He is a James who is no longer at the top level of world football. But it is James, and his name alone is still cause for hope for the Colombia selection, because his talent is there, he keeps it inside the left boot, sometimes he hides it, sometimes he forgets that he has it, but he has it, and it’s time to remember it, because Colombia needs it to be able to qualify to the Qatar World Cup, right now, in this final stretch of the tie: the moment of truth.
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James, the same one who spent a long year without being dressed in yellow, and only came to try on that shirt last November, is back in the squad. He arrives at the Selection, this time, in an ascending curve. Yesterday he played with Al Rayyan in the 1-1 draw against Al Ahli, he did not score, he did not assist, but his shot led to his team’s goal. So his January is still very good, and motivating: two goals. Two assists. 270 minutes on the court. Only one game was lost, for reasons not clarified by the club (that covid, that a physical problem, it was said). In the season in Qatar he has played 8 games, 4 assists, 3 goals and one expulsion. He arrives with rhythm and, hopefully, with confidence. He needs her.
And Colombia needs it fully: concentrated, dedicated, willing, determined. Arrive without injury. May it arrive with its magic released. May it arrive with its tuned auctions. That he arrives with a clear head –he has already changed his look and said goodbye to the blue hair–. Let him be the guide again, the game builder, and if the teams have a soul, let him be the soul! That he makes the National Team feel comfortable, that football flows for him, that the ball does not escape him, that he look for himself with his teammates and they look for him, as before. That Cuadrado, Díaz and the others find the memory of the goal, which is missing somewhere.
(Also read: Reinaldo Rueda calls a new striker to the National Team)
Reinaldo Rueda managed to think of joining James with Juan Fernando Quintero, a clamor for the country, the two talented together and at the same time and at this key stage. But Quintero could not be, a knee injury frustrated that idea. Rueda managed to say of James: “He has been growing, letting go, making a more fluid game”, and he is right, that is what James has been doing, growing after having grown, and flowing…
James in the Selection
The qualifier for the Qatar 2022 World Cup has so far been uncomfortable for James Rodríguez. A bad party. A torture. He hasn’t enjoyed it one bit. He has not celebrated. It has not motivated him. It hasn’t made it shine. He hasn’t even played it all. He has suffered. He has 6 games. 6 out of 14. That is, less than half. He has two defeats on his back that defeated him, against Uruguay and Ecuador, defeats that sent him to the canvas, that extinguished his talent, at least for a while.
He has only scored one goal. James, the same one who scored 3 in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers in Brazil, and scored 6 in Russia 2018, has now only one team. And it was not a goal to celebrate, it was not a goal that gave points, it was not a goal that gave joy, it was not a goal that served for something. It was only the discount goal in the 6-1 against Ecuador, and from a penalty, when the National Team was on fire: a goal that was not even a drop of water. Nor has he been the genius of the assists, that weapon of his, he has not been in tune. Take… 0.
(Also read: Luis Díaz arrives motivated to the National Team: see his new great goal in Portugal)
His participation this time has been very little. With Rueda, after disagreements and confrontations that seem overcome, he has only been in one call – this is the second. He returned in November, a year later, to play against Brazil and Paraguay. Nothing happened. It was not the solution that Colombia was crying out for. He arrived that time at a slow pace, he had suffered a blow to the ribs and an expulsion in Qatar. Rueda even confessed: “It’s not at the ideal level.” He almost returned it, almost told him better not, not yet, that it wasn’t the time, but he wasn’t going to make another rudeness to him.
The moment of truth
And yes, their tie is bad so far, but there are four games left to change history. Four games to return to being the James of before, the James that solves, the James that people love, and Rueda and his teammates. First it’s Peru, direct rival, all or nothing, and then it’s Argentina, already classified and without Messi.
Of course, shining in the National Team is not a matter of rubbing the lamp, not even with the geniuses. Everyone is supposed to arrive at the National Team fully, and that is not a guarantee either. Many times James arrived badly, in crisis, benched, and the yellow shirt was like his armor, with which he went out to fight, indestructible. But now it’s different, because James is still in that process of finding himself in the National Team, of opening up the field again, of convincing Rueda once and for all, of earning his trust, and him, to regain his trust.
Colombia has players in a better moment than James, like Luis Díaz, like Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, but if James is there, and without injuries, you have to take advantage of it. Yes, it’s not the one from 4 or 8 years ago, but the James of today still has the magic saved and continues to be hope for the National Team.
PAUL ROMERO
Editor of THE TIME
@PabloRomeroET
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