3.James Rodríguez’s absence was felt in Columbia’s midfield
The loss of Bayern Munich midfielder James Rodríguez ahead of this fixture was nothing short of a disaster for Colombia. Not only did José Pékerman not include the 26-year-old playmaker in his starting XI, Rodríguez was marked as “absent” in the official team list, meaning he was not even fit enough to appear as a substitute.
In his absence, Cuadrado’s role changed greatly. Colombia’s right-back Santiago Arias was handed far more defensive responsibility than in the win over Senegal, meaning Cuadrado did not drop as deep in search of the ball. Instead, he hugged the right touchline.He coped with his task admirably well: passing the ball with greater accuracy (85.1 per cent), completing more dribbles (3) and drawing more fouls (2) than any of his team-mates. And yet he wasn’t Rodríguez.