World Cup 2014: James Rodriguez's legendary volley versus Uruguay | OneFootball

The 2014 FIFA World Cup saw many shocks throughout the competition, and one of the biggest was the performance of Colombia’s number 10, James Rodriguez.

Nobody expected the performances that AS Monaco’s rising star would produce in the 2014 FIFA World Cup as he went on to be one of the biggest attractions of the tournament, which catalysed a move later that summer to the Bernabeu as Real Madrid’s latest Galactico signing.

How did Rodriguez perform at the 2014 World Cup?

Rodriguez started the tournament with five goal contributions in the group stages, racking up three goals and two assists in three games, and scoring against all opposition in Colombia’s group – namely Greece, Ivory Coast and Japan.

Colombia dominated Group C of the 2014 World Cup, winning all three games and topping the table on maximum points with a +7 goal difference, after beating Greece 3-0, Ivory Coast 2-1 and Japan 4-1.

But the Colombian’s performance of the tournament would come in the Round of 16 against Uruguay, who had the likes of Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez in their side.

Colombia 2-0 Uruguay

Rodriguez would open the scoring once again with a strike of pure beauty, a goal that would go down in the history books as one of the greatest the competition has ever seen.

The ball came to the playmaker at around 25-30 yards out after a header by Abel Aguilar, and he controlled it with his chest before swivelling and attacking it with a left-footed volley. The ball flew through the air and looped over Fernando Muslera in the Uruguay goal to give the Colombians the lead.

Colombia’s star man would follow up with another goal in the second half to put the game to bed after a cushioned header from Juan Cuadrado across the six-yard box was met by a volley from Rodriguez, who poked the ball home into an open goal.

Rodriguez wins Golden Boot

Colombia would exit the competition in the quarter-finals courtesy of a 2-1 loss to hosts Brazil. However, Rodriguez did convert from the penalty spot to secure his sixth goal of the competition – which ended up with him finishing one goal ahead of Thomas Muller and winning the World Cup golden boot award.

Watch Rodriguez’s wonder-strike versus Uruguay

Rodriguez won’t be at the 2022 World Cup. However, the performances he produced in 2014 will go down as one of the most beautiful and iconic in the competition’s history.

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