The match has been billed as the battle of No. 10s, Neymar Jr and Rodriguez. Both are their team' stop scorers. Both are young, at 22 years exactly. And both are stars.
I thought Rodriguez came out on top today. He was a marked man from the beginning but still found space to play in and scored a penalty against Brazil's penalty shootout hero of their keeper, Julio Cesar... Making him 2 goals clear at the top of the Golden Boot chase. But as once said, a player can win you a match, but you need a team to win you the tournament. And Brazil played (finally I must say) as a team today and even with a subdued and eventually injured Neymar Jr, their team won with goals scored by two other players.
Back to James Rodriguez, I haven't heard of him before but am rather impressed with him, not just for his footballing talents but for his team contribution and ready acknowledgment whenever he scores to the teammate provide the telling assist. So much so, that I had used this analogy at the opening of my recent executive board meeting, hoping to inspire my colleagues to work even better together and appreciate one another.
Photo from conmebol.com
In a knock-out match like this, only one team won, and. Brazil did. That said, Colombia did not lose. They played their heart out in a fast, fully committed end-to-end match. They did credit to the memory of Escobar, the brutally murdered footballer who 20 years ago scored an unfortunate own goal. The have their star, and they played like a team. It's just that. Brazil was a better team today, and they will meet Germany next and I'm sure they are shuddering in their boots. The Germans are in the 4th consecutive World Cup semi-finals. It's a team, almost a machine, who knows how to play in big tournaments and consistently play well. It's representative of their national ethos of systematic discipline.
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