Football
8y

James Rodriguez key for Colombia attack, says Jose Pekerman

Colombia coach Jose Pekerman called James Rodriguez "an extraordinary player who has proven his worth," after the Real Madrid midfielder scored the country's lone goal in a 1-1 draw against Chile in Santiago during CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying.

Rodriguez's 68th-minute strike cancelled out an Arturo Vidal first-half header to pull Colombia even, 1-1, but the draw lifted Chile into second place in the table with seven points, while Colombia went level with Paraguay in fourth.

"We have an extraordinary player who managed all our situations on attack, he scored a goal, he is fundamental for us and he showed that," said Pekerman, who added that Colombia "was very close to winning."

Rodriguez suffered a torn thigh muscle during Colombia's 1-1 friendly draw against Peru on Sept. 8, forcing him to miss the October qualifiers, at which Colombia beat Peru, 2-0 and lost to Uruguay, 3-0.

For these two important matches, Pekerman is missing striker Radamel Falcao, who was ruled out with a muscular problem.

Pekerman said he knew Chile would be a tough rival and backed his coaches and players for a job well done.

"We knew how difficult the match was and after analysis, we feel that we were close," the Argentine said. "We had many chances on goal and without a doubt our team have showed improvement. Chile has improved their play by a lot and we know that they do many things well. We were able to match much of their play and we were efficient."

Pekerman said Colombia simply "needed one more little goal to have won," and alluded to several calls the coach considered controversial, made by Paraguay referee Enrique Caceres.

Colombia host Argentina while Chile take on Uruguay on Nov. 17 . The Albiceleste play Brazil on Friday after that match was postponed on Thursday due to heavy rain in Buenos Aires.

Ecuador maintained their perfect start to CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying with a 2-1 defeat of previous co-leaders Uruguay in Quito on Thursday.

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