James Rodríguez, in a disproportionate state, is experiencing a spectacular Copa América: guide and brain of the Colombian National Team

When James Rodriguez When he plays for the Colombian national team, he is another, or he is the same, but different, he is more James, aware that his name is his seal. Dressed in yellow, or black, he seems like a rejuvenated James, as if his time were 10 years ago, with that skill he had in the middle of the World Cup in Brazil, his World Cup. With James in this state of lucidity, the national team is already in the quarterfinals of the Copa América, a step that he took with authority and with the elegance of his ’10’.

The world is talking about James again, and no longer to investigate his private life or his instability in Sao Paulo, now they are talking about a transformed James, a James who moves from the club to the national team as if he played with another soul in his country’s team, with that ability he has to make the ball seem like the daughter of his left leg, because he carries it with love, he is aware of it, he makes it happy, he makes it obedient, he makes it pass the goal, and that is how this 32-year-old James seems like he is 22.

James’ revenge

To the America Cup He arrived with a certain air of revenge, because his condition was not the best, because his future was and remains unknown, because he did not play in his team, because even his presence in the squad caused discontent. James’s coming out onto the field was enough to generate unanimity: James is necessary.

He was brilliant against Paraguay, with two assists, two crosses so precise that they seem unreal, because it is not easy to do what he does when his head tells him to do it with his left foot. “Ball, I want you there,” he will whisper while he moves his leg and the ball listens to him and travels temptingly: cross and goal by Muñoz, cross and goal by Lerma. Against Costa Rica he changed his repertoire, he put in his devastating pass, the one that makes him more of a ’10’, and John Cordoba He thanked him for the balled-up verse and wrote it down.

James, amid applause and cheers

Against Brazil, James had the most special match, because it was Brazil. James wreaked havoc. He got stuck with a shot that hit the crossbar, the cry of goal must still be alive in his throat, then he had a great volley. And since the goal was not coming, he did what destiny has called him to do most often, create someone else’s goal, he made the pass while falling, even so, he knows where to put the ball, Córdoba received it and then touched it to Muñoz who scored the 1-1. James left the field applauded, cheered, like the knight errant who is also the captain. “I always try to give everything for this shirt. Seeing all the people applauding is a great pride,” he said.

When the technician Nestor Lorenzo When asked about this James, he said: “Now he runs less and thinks more.”

And yes, this James seems rejuvenated, but he has so much experience on his shoulders, the wisdom of someone who plays as a ’10’. What sweats the most is his brain. In the Copa America they are dazzled: twice he has been chosen as player of the match, three times he was in the ideal team. It is a James who returns to his past, with a left foot that seems new, to recover his name: a James who today shouts, I am, because I was.

PAUL ROMERO

EDITOR OF EL TIEMPO

@PabloRomeroET

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