The young Colombian, 22-year-old James Rodriguez, has been on fire for Los Cafeteros. Five goals in four matches for Rodriguez puts him at the top of the goal scorers list of the FIFA World Cup tournament.
Colombia has defied the odds since the start of the World Cup tournament. News of the loss of world class striker Radamel Falcao was as big of a loss as any. Colombians considered the loss as important as if Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo were ruled out for their respective countries. Supporters understood that their national team revolved around Falcao, and that they needed him to make a deep run in the world’s biggest futbol tournament.
James Rodriguez silenced those concerns.
James Rodriguez spoke after his last match about their upcoming matchup against hosts Brazil.
“We’re very happy because we are making history,” Rodríguez said, collecting his third man-of-the-match award of the tournament. “As a younger man, I always wanted to be here. That was a great dream of mine and we hope that we can make it far. It is a dream and we are making history and we want to do even more because this is a team that wants to win a lot.
“There is no pressure. Obviously they have their good players, they play well but I believe they must also follow us closely. We have good players and we can be dangerous, so this is going to be a beautiful match. It will be something extraordinary for us to play.”
“Regarding Brazil, they are a hard team, they have great players and they also have their history. I believe that we have to come out onto the pitch to win as we have always done and to always attempt to win. I only want to help. I am at a good level, we’re also scoring goals and I am happy because of that.”
Colombia will go into their matchup with Brazil on Friday, July 4. The match will be played in Estádio Castelão, Fortaleza.
