40 Greatest Goals in World Cup History: #33 James Rodriguez - Colombia vs Uruguay ('14)

One of the highlights of the last edition of FIFA World Cup was Jose Pekerman's Colombian side that had the won the hearts of everyone in the world of football, after one of the best performances for the South Americans in the history of the competition.

Among those wearing the yellow for Colombia, one man managed to steal all the limelight. It was this young kid we'd been hearing about for a while now. H had been earning a reputation in Monaco with an uncanny ability to keep affecting games.

Not many were convinced, but the youngster refused to let his legend die down when the World Cup came around.

A goal in the opener against Greece before heading home in the win over Ivory Coast. An absolute stunner against Japan was the final straw, and everyone was finally compelled to look at footage of the Colombian, mostly retrospectively.

A hint of Leo Messi in the goal against Japan, the way he turned the defender inside out before lobbing the keeper. This guy is special.

No way anyone was going to miss the next game for Colombia. It came against the mighty Uruguay. Enough of Youtubing his past exploits. Show us what you got kid. The world is finally watching.

That was all the invitation, it seems, the kid needed.

What an absolute stunner!

A brace against the Uruguayans by James Rodriguez, just in case you weren't certain, was enough to set up a quarter-final clash with the hosts Brazil.

It was what he did in the 28th minute though, that will forever be etched in everyone's heart and mind.

The ball was headed toward the edge of the box, where James had dropped into, the Colombian chested the ball immaculately and shaped himself to let fly.

Don't you dare! Don't you dare kid!

He did.

With that audacity that rubbed so many off the wrong way, with that exuberance of youth that makes the pros vomit. With all the glory of that blessed left foot, James Rodriguez thundered the ball in off the cross ball, on the volley.

Did we just see that!? I reckon we did. So did Real Madrid.

Rodriguez scored the goal of the World Cup in 2014 and is why he is on our list of 40 Greatest Goals in World Cup history.