James Rodriguez could break Lionel Messi record as he lights up Copa America

James Rodriguez is back as Colombia’s Copa America jaunt reached the semi-final stage.

The former Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Everton relishes nothing more than a major international tournament.

So, despite his recent spells out of the limelight with Al Rayyan, Olympiacos, and now with Sao Paulo, it’s no surprise he’s making a splash.

Colombia are now in the final four of the tournament after beating Panama 5-0 in the quarter-finals.

Rodriguez scored a penalty and claimed two assists in the clash.

His first contributed was a delightful corner headed home by Jhon Cordoba after eight minutes.

With just 15 minutes gone he then dispatched an excellent penalty after Jhon Arias had been felled in the box.

And then a superbly executed quick free-kick saw him put Liverpool star Luis Diaz in on goal and the forward lobbed the stranded Panamanian goalkeeper with ease to put Colombia 3-0 up by half-time.

After the victory over Panama he said: “I always try to help my teammates so that they can play well and I congratulate them for playing well.

He added, “We’re all going through a good moment. We’re doing goals from set pieces, from penalties and planned plays which is a good thing.”

Some claim he has been the best player at the Copa America but Rodriguez was coy when asked about it.

He said: “There’s still a lot of time. There’s two games left with what we want to achieve and all I want to do is win, so there’s a lot left.”

Rodriguez had also got an assist in the 3-0 win over Costa Rica, and two in their 2-1 opening match win over Paraguay.

Ahead of Colombia’s draw with Brazil, Rodriguez was praised by manager Nestor Lorenzo.

“Now he runs a little less, but he thinks a little more. It’s good for him. He’s well surrounded, and that’s what’s making him play well.”

In that game, Rodriguez hit the post and saw another assist ruled out due to the resulting goal being scored by an offside teammate.

Still, with just one more assist he would break Lionel Messi‘s record of five in one tournament, set in 2021.

And then he’d likely have an even stronger case for being Player of the Tournament.

Rodriguez burst onto the international scene at the 2014 World Cup with a stellar showing.

He scored one of the goals of the tournament and notched another five times to win the Golden Boot and made two assists.

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