In the court of King James: abandoned by his dad, spotted by a villain… and a hero to all in Colombia

Now we've heard of him: James Rodriguez

BARELY halfway through the World Cup and a star has been born. Forget Neymar, Messi and Muller, it’s James they’re all talking about. On Friday night in the quarter-final showdown between Colombia and Brazil he might be the only name in town.

The first man to five goals in the chase for the Golden Boot, James David Rodríguez Rubio is far too complicated a name for modern football fans. They call him James. Actually, it’s Hamez for Spanish-speaking Colombia fans.

And emerging from the shadow of their better-known striker Radamel Falcao, the Americans are now dubbing him J-Rod after their famous baseballer.

When injury forced Falcao out of the 2014 World Cup, most expected the Colombians, feisty Latin American outsiders, to struggle on the goal front. But from BEFORE the tournament even started, Rodriguez stepped up and started banging them in on behalf of his crocked Monaco team-mate.

In pre-tournament friendlies against Senegal and Jordan, the 22-year-old started his incredible streak. Then, as Group C burst upon us, Rodriguez produced goal after goal, scoring in his first four World Cup games to equal the record held by Brazilian greats Ronaldo and Rivaldo.

Goal of the tournament? James' first against Uruguay

One in the 3-0 win over Greece, one to break Ivorian hearts, a cracker against Japan and then TWO in the last 16 clash against Uruguay on Saturday night. SEVEN goals in SIX games. Incredible in the world of modern international football. And the first against Uruguay was an absolute classic, possibly the best of an incredible World Cup so far. Brought it down with a superb first touch, half-volleyed the ball home from outside the box.

Breath-taking stuff. So good, in fact, it prompted Colombia’s greatest footballing hero (he of the massive hair) Carlos Valderrama to ooze modestly: ''For a long time in Colombia they have been looking for the next Carlos Valderrama and they've now finally found who that player is. And he will be a hero not just now but for the next 10 years.''

But some have known about this baby-faced assassin for years. At the tender age of 15, he banged in nine goals for local Colombian outfit Envigado. He was shifted quickly to Argentine side Banfield, where he earned the nickname “James Bond” and then he was swept off to Europe, where he scored 25 goals in 63 games for Porto.

Though part-owned (like Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano from Argentina) by a third-party, Rodriguez finally gained freedom with a high profile move to moneybags principality Monte Carlo and AC Monaco.

Nine goals in 34 games hardly justify the ludicrous £38.5m (R750m) price Monaco paid for him but with Falcao linked with a return to Madrid – he left Atletico but may return to Real – Rodriguez clearly thrives in the absence of his countryman.

It’s not always been an easy ride for “Hamez”. He was abandoned by his father – a former professional footballer - at the age of three and raised by his mum, Pilar.

And it was the late Gustavo Upegui Lopez, a businessman with suspected ties to Medellín’s drug cartels and vigilante death squads, who engineered his first professional move to Envigado rather than to Tolima, where his father played.

He was married at 19 – to Daniela, sister of Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina – and has a daughter, Salome. From 12, when he scored a goal direct from a corner on national television, he dreamed of being “the new El Pibe (Valderrama) and winner of the Ballon d’Or.

There were times, those early years in Porto and the opening weeks in Monte Carlo, when the dream seemed distant and improbable. He was seen as too slight, not physical enough. Two weeks in Brazil have changed that. Forever.

SOCCERBALLZ! my innovative football show on www.ballz.co.za with Mark Fish airs every Thursday from 9am-11am. See Ballz' channel for our growing library of fascinating football interviews with the big names. Ballz will also provide daily World Cup updates from next week.

You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news and read my “Neal and Pray” column every Tuesday in www.thenewage.co.za.

Hail of fame: Baxter's AmaKhosi ready to ride the storm

Hail the Chiefs: fans face charges for ice dancing

ABANDONED. It’s not the most cheerful word in the English language. It brings to mind tiny lifeboats lost in a stormy sea, babies left in hospital doorways.

And it’s not the happiest word in football either – especially if you’re a Kaizer Chiefs fan waiting for Wednesday night’s replay of their abandoned PSL clash with Leopards at Soccer City (kick-off 7.30pm, live on SuperSport4).

Oh, how the AmaKhosi will suffer if they don’t claim all three points. There they were, cruising at 2-0 after 34 minutes on Saturday night, when the early-summer Highveld storm hit Johannesburg. One minute Chiefs were stroking the ball around a green sward, the next hail had turned the pitch in to a winter wonderland.

The ice had barely melted by the time Stuart Baxter came out on the club’s official website insisting: “We will show the same winning intent.”

But there was no question of play continuing on Saturday when the clouds broke. Daniel Bennett, the nation’s top referee, led the charge to the sanctuary of the dressing rooms, declaring the surface unfit and potentially dangerous.

As unruly fans drew an unnecessary PSL disciplinary charge for larking about in the ice, match commissioner Stan Swart was a crest-fallen man. He said: “We tried clearing the lines but that didn’t work. Then we tried to get the pitch remarked but it was too wet. We had no choice but to ask the teams to replay the game.”

And of course, under SAFA law 8.14 – a rule followed in most FIFA nations – that means the match will be the full 90 minutes, started again at 0-0. Had they managed to get back on the pitch and finish the game on Saturday, they would have restarted from 2-0 up in the 35th minute. Bemused Kaizer Chiefs fans are furious.

A cunning Leopards sangoma may be cackling away hysterically somewhere up north, but in Soweto everybody wants to know what happens to the two marvellous goals scored by Bernard Parker and Kingston Nkhatha before the hail came down.

The sad truth is that Parker’s magnificent free-kick has now been scrubbed from the records. And ‘Cijimpi’ Nkhatha’s  second, neatly constructed, will not feature either.

Though television producers are free to screen Parker’s strike as a contender for Goal of the Month, it won’t count if Parker – who scored four against Amazulu in the opening game of the season and two for Bafana against Mozambique a week ago – is in the running for PSL top scorer.

So Chiefs have to do it all again on Wednesday, knowing the Orlando Pirates – under controversial new coach Roger De Sa – had seen off Platinum Stars 1-0 thanks to a disputed Andile Jali penalty and an early red card.

That puts Pirates level with Chiefs on seven points, one short of promoted shock-troops AmaTuks, Maritzburg United and Free State Stars. Moroka Swallows, after their shock loss against Pretoria’s Clever Boys on Friday night – are on six points with SuperSport United and Bloemfontein Celtic.

Hard as it is to find a positive side to this awful word abandoned, there is one consolation for deflated Chiefs fans. Eric “Tower” Mathoho may be available for the replay.

He was ruled out of Saturday night’s clash following the death of his uncle, David Galananzhele Mathoho, who passed away last Wednesday after a long illness. Mathoho was given permission by the club to attend the funeral.

Siphiwe Tshabalalala, rested after his Bafana duties against Brazil and Mozambique, could also be ready by Wednesday night.

A frustrated Baxter said on www.Kaizerchiefs.com: “It is difficult when a game is postponed and rescheduled - it changes our entire program - but as professionals we will have to prepare now for Wednesday. Leopards were always going to be tougher and they will not be different come Wednesday as for us we need to go out and finish the business.

“We would have loved to continue playing after the storm but then it was difficult to do so as the hail could not be removed without removing the lines.

“The players are obviously disappointed that the game was postponed but it was due to natural cause. I am confident that they will show the same intent on the pitch.”

As for Tshabalala and Mathoho, Baxter said: “We will make a decision this week but I was pleased with what I saw in the 30 minutes or so that we played and we will have to build on that.”

But anything less than victory on Wednesday will leave the Amakhosi with understandable feelings of injustice.

Abandoned: If Bernard Parker is upset, imagine how seven-goal Denis Law felt!

Winter wonderland: Soccer City on Saturday night after the hail storm

KAIZER CHIEFS fans are understandably annoyed about Saturday night's hail storm, which saw their game against Leopards abandoned after 34 minutes at Soccer City.

When referee Daniel Bennett took the players off, Chiefs were leading 2-0 with a superb free-kick from Bernard Parker followed by a neat strike from Kingston Nkhatha.

If the players had got back on the ground on Saturday night, the match would have resumed with Chiefs 2-0 up 10 minutes before half-time.

But because match commissioner Stan Swart was unable to clear the surface, they'll have to replay Leopards on Wednesday night at Soccer City, kick-off 8.15pm.

And under SAFA rule 8.14 they will start at 0-0, 90 minutes to play. While I suspect certain sangomas are cackling away happily up north, my Twitter (www.twitter.com/nealcol) and Facebook feeds have been awash with aggrieved AmaKhosi claiming this is unfair. And if have to agree.

But if Parker feels hard done by, consider the case of the great Denis Law on January 28, 1961.

Playing for Manchester City against Luton Town, the Scotland legend scored a record SIX goals in an FA Cup tie – but his performance (and the 6-2 scoreline) was rubbed from the record books when the game was abandoned after 69 minutes due to a waterlogged pitch.

On February 1 the game was replayed – and Luton won 3-1. The scorer that day? A very unhappy Denis Law!

The statisticians claim Law is the only man to score seven times and lose a game. They also point out that those six goals would have him the 20^th century’s leading FA Cup goal-scorer. Instead, that record went to Liverpool’s Ian Rush (44) with Law second on 41.

Read the full story of Kaizer Chiefs sense of abandonment in www.thenewage.co.za in my Neal & Pray column on Tuesday.

You can also see my assessment of the weekend's action in South Africa and abroad during Classic Play on eTV Sunrise, DSTV 134, tomorrow morning at 7.15am.