The topic James Rodríguez has generated all kinds of comments in the press and social networks. The decision of the coach Reinaldo Rueda was a surprise and as expected the criticisms, of all kinds, arrived. Physical problems have been the Achilles heel of the Colombian creative and that is precisely the reason why he was excluded from the Qualifiers and even from the Copa América.
Based on the above, Juan Fernando Quintero, another of those disaffected by the Tricolor, wanted to talk about all the hot topics of the last week without keeping absolutely anything.
In dialogue with ‘Semana’, ‘Juanfer’ decided to vent: he talked about the issue of Selection, made a reflection on the personal life of the footballer, discussed the issue of China, pointed against former members of the national team and defended his great friend tooth and nail , James.
Absence in Qualifiers and Copa América – On the one hand, sad about this situation that is happening worldwide. I had a lot of hope to return, to do things well especially with the players they called up because with many I have had the opportunity to play, to live together. I really liked this call and had a lot of hope, but as a result of what is happening, you have to make decisions with a cool head. The coaching staff understood it, the Federation … They supported me and hopefully all this changes so that we can be contributing and helping my country.
Communication with Reinaldo Rueda – (About the absence) I explained it to him, he understood. He did not know what day he could return to China and it was a very particular situation. I made the best decision with the teacher, as long as respecting everyone’s interests and above all my well-being because returning to China implies 21 days of quarantine, you lose pace, the team needed me, there was no ticket to return Well, it was a confusing situation in which the only one who was going to get hurt was me. Both my club and the Federation made the best decision, based on what could be the best for everyone. Unfortunately it did not happen and we hope that everything is fixed for October or the dates that come to be able to be.
Does going to China take you out of the National Team? – All that depends on who says it. I have always relied on my happiness, tranquility and I don’t care what they say. I simply play soccer, soccer is the same everywhere and the one who should be at a good level is me, not the league. That is part of what football is: the criticism of those who comment, those who do not. As long as I am well, happy, well physically, motivated and can contribute to my country, imagine. It is how one prepares, especially that these things happen because it is easy to talk from the outside.
Critics – I have nothing to say to them, I simply do not live off those compliments, neither when I am doing well or when I am doing poorly. I am too cold before that, I learned at the point of blows because many years ago I cared a lot what they said, what they did not say, what happened, what did not happen … Today I enjoy my life with my loved ones, my friends. I enjoy football every day, I live this intensely because time is getting shorter and shorter. As a result of these things you get annoyed, football is not to blame for so many people talking stupid things, I think ignorance weighs more and it remains to cover your eyes, your ears. Even those who have lived it criticize you, the codes are increasingly lost. Today we kill a Colombian player when he has won everything, when since he was 7 years old he has hit the body like an older person, when since he was 10 years old he supports his family and today we kill him through a microphone. I do not explain to myself many times what is happening, if it is jealousy or many things, everyone will know. I do not care, but it hurts me that I, who have given this to football all my life, do not value many things by a person who is behind a microphone, which I respect a lot because I respect everyone, and they talk inconsistencies about things that they do not have sense. But I am also clear that criticism is part of it, there are people who have to do this to attract attention and well, it is respectable.
James Rodríguez case – He’s my brother, I love that guy, as I’ve told him many times. I know what James has done to be where he is. From the age of 14 he went to Argentina alone, I know what he has experienced, I know what he has suffered and what he has managed to be what he is today because in the end it cannot be taken away. Not only him, all Colombian players have a story to tell and you know that the only thing we have is a character that ultimately defines us. All athletes in Colombia have a great talent, but many times the one who comes out is the one who is going to receive the most criticism, instead of getting on the bus and really supporting him in all situations. I believe that this is a loyalty to our flag because in the end, people who represent us make us feel proud in all parts of the world. I feel happy. How am I going to say that our Giro d’Italia champion had 10 kilometers to go when I don’t know how many. Right now, very cool, but for how many years have you been working and doing this. Today we are talking about the triumph of a compatriot who makes us feel proud and who does not win, or whatever it is, represents us.
Couple with James – It is a complex situation to know that a reference of the National Team will not be like James or in my case that I have had the opportunity to contribute. It is tough, but I am aware of the capacity of the players who are called up, we have no doubt that they have a lot of talent, capacity and I love the coaching staff. As Colombians we have to support at all times and from wherever I am I will help, contribute and send the best energy, which is the least that I have to do, so that the boys do well. In the end it takes a sense of belonging, personality and character to take on this great responsibility. Everything is given to have a good performance both in the Qualifiers and in the Copa América.
Inclusion of Edwin Cardona – I do not talk much about tactics because at the end comes the time when you have to talk about it. We cannot forget that Edwin is a crack and that he has had the opportunity to do things well in the National Team. In the end, the players are not there but another arrives who has a responsibility and personality to assume it, both he and others. The other is left to the coaching staff, which is experienced in this case, studies their matches and they are going to make the best decision. Hopefully whoever is here can do things right.
Call off James – They are two parts. James always wants to be in the National Team and surely the coaching staff wants to have it well. James feels good, surely they spoke it and made the decision always based on the best for him and the National Team. Something similar happened to me in 2015, I couldn’t play the Copa América for days, I couldn’t be there and I felt bad, frustrated. It is something that is part of the acid, to grow and strengthen in every way. I talked about it with my friend, I know it is frustrating, but I also know that he is a very strong person mentally and that he will surely come back stronger to give what he normally gives, which is important things. He’s a leader. In this moment he will recover and will come back with more enthusiasm.
James Suffering – They are always hard on him, on everyone. What I talk about the least with James is football because in the end I don’t care, the respect I have for him is the maximum because he has achieved everything, he has been a champion where he has gone, he is a person with history, he must be respected, but It seems that many people forget what they have given us. As a person, I go to death with him because I know him, I know the person he is, I know what it means for me as a friendship, which is something more important than the player, and in the end football passes, the only thing left is the person and for me that is more important. He is a human being, sometimes a lot of people forget him and for me it is more important to tell him how he is, as a friend, than how he feels as a player. I try to be there, to support him because in the end it is what he fills, the things that are done from the heart. I know that he will come out strong from all this, because he is a great one and he has shown it, for me it is not a strange case.
James-Reinaldo Division? – I love the coaching staff, I’m going to death also with the coach and the players because we are Colombia. Right now we are not to create news that James, that Reinaldo, no. We are creating chaos where there really shouldn’t be. James is part of the history of the National Team, Reinaldo too, we are all part of it. No one here has invented football, or deciphered it. We will respect. All the players have been submissive to many situations, but there are times that they happen, I say it with great respect. We have to respect. We have been training since we were 7 years old. The decisions we make influence many people who are behind us and sometimes people forget. Not only James, who is strong, there are relatives who suffer for wanting news. It is seen that a person is insulting someone or treating him badly or demeaning everything he has done. It must be respected because everyone is worthy of their work and that they respect it. An opinion with respect and always in favor of improvement of what is happening is good; but at all times we are dividing, as if it is like rice then why not pasta. We win by heads and tails. You have to respect the history of Colombian football. We respect the history of those who created the path for us, who were the names of Faustino, El Pibe, many and now we follow them for the one who comes. Ahortia comes a person who played in the National Team and speaks ill of the players who are, where are the codes of all the dressing rooms that he went through? Where are the codes of all the concentrations that he went through? It is a history of Colombian football that must be respected and today there are many players who speak ill of us … How can you speak ill of a person you don’t even know? With whom you have never had the touch, the conversation and if you are going to come as if you were what. It is not about that, we must unite, we cannot look for each one by their own side, do not die. We are going to be part of everything the same, tomorrow the characters change and at the time of us they will all be old, other players will follow and we must respect it. In the end, the one who comes will follow the path that we left and the one that we traveled because of what they left us. Let’s unite. When we were at the World Cup, everyone was riding the bus, now what is happening? Now everyone gets off, that’s very easy. I blindly believe in the colleagues who are representing us today and I support them because I know what they have done, what they do on a daily basis, I know what one suffers and what hurts the legs to continue feeding their family and make them feel proud . We must respect all the people who work and especially us who are footballers.
Criticisms of ex-footballers – Everyone has their way of thinking and is respected, but we cannot forget where we come from. They are values that are taught to one from home. I respect everyone, I treat everyone well and the least I care about is talking about a character. Perhaps it is the character that he maintains every day in his life and from the character the ego speaks. I don’t care about anything. It happened to me: that I went to China, Argentina, Medellín, that I didn’t play in Porto, that in France I had a problem … Nobody knows anything about what happens, only one. It is normal for me to make a constructive criticism, but there are people who forget that there are codes and, with all due respect, that is not negotiated, values are not negotiated. People who do not respect do not deserve to be respected and they know who they are. I do not blame, I always try to focus on the positive, which is my family, but that a person, who has had problems, like one or even worse, talks about one is an unconscious. A clear example is how one lives, not how one speaks. It is something that I feel and many of my teammates, who have had the opportunity to play, feel it. One comes to pay homage to God, to no human being.
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