Reborn James Rodriguez Holds Key To Colombia's Copa America Final Hopes

He was the golden boy of the 2014 World Cup but after a decade of disappointment at club level and at the age of 33, James Rodriguez is back and starring again on the international stage. The Colombian 'number ten' has been fundamental to his team's run to the final of the Copa America where 'Los Cafeteros' will face world champions Argentina for the title. Ten years ago in Brazil, Rodriguez scored six goals in Colombia's run to the quarter-finals of the World Cup including a stunning volley on the turn against Uruguay which won FIFA's Puskas Award for goal of the year.

Such was Rodriguez's impact on the tournament that when Lionel Messi was handed the Golden Ball for the World Cup's best player, his fellow Argentine great Diego Maradona said that the prize should have gone to Rodriguez.

The midfielder's displays earned him a lucrative move to Spanish giants Real Madrid for a fee reported to be around 80 million euros, at the time the fourth most expensive transfer in the world.

He was handed Real's famous number ten shirt and presented as the club's next great star but he was unable to live up to those high expectations and his club career, which showed such promise with Porto and Monaco, has never truly recovered.

He was loaned to Bayern Munich and by 2020 he had moved to English club Everton on a free transfer before finding himself at Qatari club Al-Rayyan with Greece's Olympiacos and then last year Brazil's Sao Paulo, as a promising career lost its way.

This season in Brazil, Rodriguez has made just eight appearances for the club but none of that club form appeared to worry Colombia coach Nestor Lorenzo.

The Argentine had seen enough from Rodriguez in the national team shirt to give him a central role at the Copa