Colombia's James Rodriguez is lighting up the World Cup

Most people remember Colombian legend Carlos Valderrama for his flamboyant mop of blonde afro hair. But he was a superb playmaker too and Colombia haven’t found anyone to take his place following his international retirement in 1998. But now with the arrival of James Rodriguez, the wait seems to be over. Rodriguez also wears the No. 10 jersey, which was last worn by a Colombian at the World Cup when Valderrama donned it in 1998. In one moment during the game against Uruguay, Rodriguez spelled out just how good he is as a player. He trapped a cushioned header on his chest, let it drop down on to the his left foot and volleyed it straight towards the Uruguay goal. Fernando Muslera, the Uruguayan goalkeeper got his fingertips to the ball but it wasn’t enough. The ball crashed into the underside of the crossbar and the World Cup had a goal of the tournament contender. It was the first goal of the match – a little later in the game, he added a second but the first goal was simply stunning. [caption id=“attachment_1594009” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Colombia’s James Rodriguez celebrates after he scored his side’s second goal against Uruguay. AP[/caption] With five goals in four matches and a further two assists, Rodriguez has established himself as a star. He has spent the past few seasons with Porto and Monaco but now with reports of Manchester United being interested, the 22-year-old (the same age as Neymar) has well and truly arrived. He probably had the best 45 minutes of the World Cup during Colombia’s last group game against Japan and his goal late in the game was the icing on the cake. A wonderful through ball gave him space, then he tricked a defender before lofting the ball over the diving goalkeeper to make the final score 4-1 in Colombia’s favour. It was almost Messi-like, which is high praise. At 17 years old, Rodriguez had become the youngest foreign player to both play and score in the Argentinian league with Banfield. He quickly moved to Europe and FC Porto. Porto is a nice place for youngsters and it helped that he had country-mate Radamel Falcao (who is missing the World Cup because of an injury). He scored 31 goals in 104 appearances over three years. Next in line was AS Monaco. Rodriguez had great potential and was used to European football but still Monaco’s decision to cough up 45-million Euro transfer fee did raise some eyebrows. He had a league-leading 12 assists this past season and with his show in the World Cup, he is probably going to be worth even more now. He has immense ball control, vision and has shown himself to be a leader; to be a player who can take him team to a higher level. There are many young players who have amazing individual skills but to watch him dictate play and score goals with consummate ease singles him out in a very special category. If he had been Argentine, Brazilian and even English, he would have definitely got much more press by now. But being Colombian meant that he was walking in the shadows. But now, he has seized his moment and is perhaps shining even brighter than Messi, Muller and Neymar. This man has arrived and for Colombia, he couldn’t have picked a better time.