James Rodriguez knocked Luis Suarez out of the headlines with an exquisite goal as Colombia beat Uruguay 2-0 to set up a World Cup quarter-final against hosts, Brazil.
The pre-match build-up had been dominated by talk of Suarez’s four-month ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini, but by the final whistle at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana, there was only one name on everyone’s lips: Rodriguez.
Having previously illuminated the group phase, Rodriguez broke the deadlock shortly before the half hour with a breath-taking strike, chesting the ball down and volleying home from 25 yards.
The 22-year-old Monaco playmaker added a second early in the second half, sending him to the top of the scorers chart with five goals and confirming his emergence as one of the players of the tournament.
His goals took Colombia into the quarter-finals for the first time, meaning the northern Brazilian city of Fortaleza will turn completely yellow when Jose Pekerman’s side play the hosts on July 4.
Rodriguez, who has now scored in each of his last six international games, celebrated with appropriate abandon, screaming ‘Vamos!’ at the hordes of jubilant yellow-shirted fans in the front-row seats.
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