If there's one person who took Colombia's loss against Brazil during the crucial quarterfinals match on Friday, it would be Gold Boot awardee-in-the-running James Rodriguez.
The 22 year-old was visibly shaken and cried openly after Brazil managed to secure its 2-1 lead over the Colombians. Rodriguez managed to score the only goal for his home team, while rival David Luiz scored the decisive goal from a free kick, Bleacher Report said.
It what seemed to be a class act from Luiz, the curly-haired Brazilian then thanked the heavens for his team's win and then urged the crowd to acknowledge Rodriguez for his stellar performance at the World Cup, Buzzfeed said. Rodriguez is leaving the World Cup along with the rest of his teammates with 6 goals and 2 assists, making him a superhero in his country. Rodriguez so far has broken the most number of goals made during this year's World Cup.
Luiz approached a crying Rodriguez, and later asked the crowd to clap as he points to the Colombian star. Rodriguez is also seen being consoled by another Brazilian player.
When he was asked by reporters after the game on what Luiz had told him, Football Italia quoted Rodriguez as saying, "He told me I was a good player. The truth is that having so many superstars hugging me did make me happy. We have to raise our heads now and thank Colombia for their support. We are sad because we wanted to keep going and set new records. We gave everything to reach the semi-final, but we have to be proud because we played a great side."
Tom Conn also quoted Rodriguez, who had also commented on the poor refereeing during the very intense game. He said, "I'm crying because we gave everything we had inside of us. The referee didn't help us. Men cry too."
