Ahead of tomorrow's World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Colombia, Real Madrid duo of Casemiro and Marcelo will face off against their teammate, James Rodriguez of Colombia. After deciding to stay with the Los Blancos this summer despite having many offers, James has decided to fight for his place at the Bernabeu.
Casemiro took this opportunity to heap praise on James Rodriguez and emphasised the Colombian's importance in Madrid squad. “James is a teammate who everyone admires. He’s a great player and he’s shown it at Madrid. I'm happy he has stayed with us at Madrid." Casemiro has cemented his place in the starting line-up under manager Zinedine Zidane as he is as crucial to Madrid as the likes of Ronaldo and Bale.
Trending
With the emergence of Marco Asensio in the first team and along with the preference given to Isco ahead of James, the Columbian will find it tough to get into the starting lineup this season. Zidane earlier had said that he has no plans to sell James as he stated after the UEFA Super Cup, " James is here, I am happy with how he played and he will be staying here. I will always respond in the same way to that. I'm tired of having to give a response. My stance is not going to change."
Also read: 10 players who were bigger than the clubs they played for
James had garnered interest from Chelsea and Juventus as both the clubs had a strong interest in the Colombian. Chelsea had sent a delegation to hold talks with Real Madrid but Zidane had stated that he is not for sale at any cost. Also with Rodriguez being a Perez favourite, it was difficult to see James leave this summer. In the recently announced FIFA ratings in its latest edition FIFA 17, James Rodriguez is given a rating of 87 and is the highest ranked Columbian on the list.
Coming back to the Conmebol qualifiers, after seven games of the eighteen games, Argentina lead the South American group with Uruguay, Colombia and Ecuador trailing by just one point. Brazil are just a point behind at fifth. The teams finishing in the top four in this group will secure automatic qualification to the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Fifth placed team will have to play a two-legged playoff against a team from Oceania.
