It was the ‘moment’ to call James Rodríguez, says Reinaldo Rueda

The Colombian soccer coach, Reinaldo Rueda, said today in Sao Paulo that this was the “moment” for the return of creative James Rodríguez to the team, after his absence due to technical criteria and injuries.

“I thought it was time to invite James to join. It is my task to find alternative solutions, ”said Rueda at a press conference prior to Thursday’s game against the leader Brazil for the South American qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

“The issue of James is positive for what it means to adapt and meet again with his teammates and have his first meeting with us as a coaching staff,” said Rueda in reference to the return of former Real Madrid to the team after being absent in the last dates.

The now player of Al-Rayyan from Qatar was cited by the press of his country as the protagonist of an alleged altercation with other teammates in the locker room after the thunderous 6-1 defeat against Ecuador in Quito, in an event that precipitated the departure of the then coach, the Portuguese Carlos Queiroz, replaced by Rueda.

“We continue to learn in football and accumulate experiences. It is all that a bad result means to make a sociological issue with a media impact, perhaps without the football impact, ”said Rueda.

For the coach, within the group “everything is so normal, with camaraderie and communication in all spaces, with a very natural degree of maturity and professionalism”, reinforcing the words of forward Luis Muriel, another of those cited by the course altercation, who denied that there are any quarrels with Rodríguez.

On the other hand, Rueda mentioned the supposed favoring of the referees to the local team and the provocations on the Neymar court that were presented in recent Brazil-Colombia matches.

“They are specific issues and must be learned injuries. Before leaving for Sao Paulo I told the group to avoid this wear and tear, fall into this provocation, get out of the focus of the game and the refereeing decisions, ”he stressed.

Colombia was concentrated in Atibaia, 60 kilometers from Sao Paulo, and this Wednesday it traveled to the São Paulo capital, where it will face Brazil on Thursday at the Neo Química Arena stadium, of Corinthians and which was one of the venues for the 2014 World Cup.

The coach thanked his Brazilian colleague Tite for the constant praise that the Canarinha driver emits about Colombia, but warned: “For us what matters is what we do on the pitch and not be distracted with a negative or positive comment or concept” .

The coach refrained from anticipating the starting line-up and said he will define it after training this Wednesday, although he acknowledged the problems with the casualties of right-back Stefan Medina and central defenders Yerry Mina, Carlos Cuesta and Oscar Murillo.

“They are the last-minute imponderables, but yesterday we did a practice and a defensive block has been projected with the alternatives we have,” he commented.

Brazil, leader of the qualifying rounds and undefeated with 31 points from 11 games, can guarantee their mathematical qualification for Qatar 2022, if they defeat Colombia and Uruguay do not defeat Argentina on Friday.

For its part, Colombia is in fourth position – the last place that gives direct access to the World Cup – with 16 points, the same as the Uruguayan team. (D)