The coach of Colombia announces the return of James Rodríguez against Brazil
The Colombia selector, José Pekerman, announced today that James Rodríguez will reappear in the starting lineup this Tuesday against Brazil, a rival that, in his opinion, has returned to being "the same as always" since the arrival of Adenor Leonardo Bacchi 'Tite'.
James Rodríguez, according to the Argentine coach, has recovered from a right thigh injury suffered on August 1 in a friendly match for his new club, Bayern Munich against English Liverpool.
"He's going to play because it's the right thing to do, he's fine and he's going to play, he arrives in good condition for tomorrow's match," said Pekerman at a press conference in Barranquilla, where the sixteenth round match of the World Cup qualifiers will be played in Russia.
James traveled with the Colombian national team to the match last Thursday against Venezuela in San Cristóbal but did not play.
Pekerman highlights Brazil's good momentum
Pekerman also highlighted Brazil's good momentum, the top team in the Conmebol, which has won nine consecutive matches in the qualifiers since Tite took over.
"Brazil is doing very well. Beyond the numbers, they turned around a complex situation in the qualifiers where they had a complicated start and entered this positive streak," he said.
In that sense, he highlighted the work of his colleague Tite, because he managed to convince the group to return to being the Brazil of always.
"I also do not take away merit from Tite's work because it was very complicated, Brazil's situation was not simple, even having great players. They came from the post-World Cup, Copa América, players who began to doubt whether or not they would go to the national team," he said.
Pekerman praises Neymar
Colombia's coach also praised the star Neymar, stating that he can create four or five goal-scoring plays in a match.
"We would be more calm if Neymar did not play because Brazil is already a powerhouse and in addition to being a powerhouse, they have Neymar. It is implicit that there will always be four or five Neymar plays that will end in a goal," he said.
Colombia's strategy to win the match
Regarding how to win the match, Pekerman assured that Colombia must maintain a very high and constant pace throughout the ninety minutes of play.
"We know we can do it, we have the elements to do it, we are competitive, we have always had this desire to be in the World Cup," he said.
"We know that against this rival, 100% is not enough, we have to give a little more," he affirmed.
Pekerman assured that the forward Carlos Bacca, recently transferred to Villarreal in Spain, was not called up for this match but is always on the selection's radar.
"What I can say is that we have always counted on Carlos and have supported him permanently. This was a very difficult date and all the players knew it," he said.
Pekerman did not give any clues about the starting eleven that will take the field tomorrow at the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla because he considers that each match is different and the coaching staff takes into account all the players to try different ideas.