James Rodríguez: Analysis of Criticism and Controversy in Everton and Colombia – International Football – Sport

James scores a goal, but the goal was not nice. To make passive, but it was certainly carom. Throw one tunnel, and it must be that he just wants to show off. He is injured, and it is that he is not training well. He’s smiling, and he’s not taking it seriously. He is sorry, and it is that he has no character. He speaks and they ask him to be quiet. Shut up, and they ask me to speak. Such is the life of the sports idol, a prisoner of public opinion, cornered between those who enjoy his rise and those who enjoy his fall. James lives, immersed in the eternal commentary, in the fierce criticism, and in a bad reputation from which he cannot escape.

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He is one of the best football players Colombia has produced. The one that one Magic World Cup in 2014, who scored six goals, one of which scored for Uruguay as if he had kicked it off with the golden guayo they later gave him. It’s about the footballer who went to Real Madrid, which was worth 80 million euros and hit the air with a header. He is the famous footballer everyone is talking about, for better or for worse, the one with nearly 47 million followers Instagram, the one who cannot move a foot without something sprouting or breaking around him.

His fame, his wake and his football faculties they do not always generate unanimity or praise; on the contrary, they sometimes arouse antipathy. James is being judged because and why not. Is that idol that at the top is confronted with insatiable pressure, anonymous ridicule, the wall of networks. James signs the note as he pulls the ball to his left foot. Public opinion watches his movements, and while some celebrate his fantasy, others are carried away by the bad reputation they have created in Spain, with all that has been said about him, that the night in Madrid was his good friend, which he was not did he train well or that he would get angry if he didn’t play … Those rumors characterized him. And other more specific events fueled the morbidity, such as his bad relationship with Zidane, his replacements in Madrid, or private matters such as his divorce from Daniela ospina, his dedication to the model Shannon de Lima, or her decision to rent a womb to have a child, as Ronaldo did. Since arriving in England, there has been talk of his series of mysterious injuries at Everton, where he has not played four games in a row. At the age of 29, the idol cannot escape his media labyrinth.

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‘Dehumanized warrior’

From a point of view sociological, James, as an idol that he is, cannot escape the relentless pressures of society, that which will always expect more of him, that requires and does not forgive him. Alexander Villanueva, sociologist and sports expert, analyzes his case.

“You have to understand that what happens to James in sports sociology is known as the epic tragedy of the athlete warrior, which is to say that we lift him to the top, but we forget that the idol is a person, a family man, a human, and that the idol much of the peculiarity of the Colombian peopleThe other thing about this tragedy is twilight, we have to understand that James is in terms of a downward curve, and that’s hard to understand for sports fans, but especially for the athletes themselves, ”he says.

James is talked about with the same intensity when he is playing or when he is not playing. There is speculation about his injuries with the same intrigue he talks with about his sessions videogameIn the networks there are people who tell him that he is not sacrificing, that he is not running, there are even people who insinuate that he is not training hard, although no one knows how he trains, and they even question his importance in the National team . They figure out where to play, in what club, in what position … And all with a certain anger, with a certain fan wisdom.

Francisco Maturana, Colombia’s most successful coach and who also knows the bitter taste of criticism, thinks, “That’s what happens to these people who are icons. That everyone feels right and knows what to do, and many of them don’t know what to do in their lives.

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James has had other recent episodes sparking that notoriety. His fight with Freddy Rincon, after James assured him with a mischievous laugh that he was the best footballer in Colombia’s history. Or your question to the doctor Hector Fabio Cruz, who said that James was out of focus and more concerned with fixing his eyebrows, a statement he had to retract. Or the most recent event, when he was charged with leading an alleged uprising in the national team’s locker room, which he denied in a statement. It’s that being such a recognized athlete has its implications, to the point that every sports critic ends up connecting with what extra sport, to speculation, to malicious and unproven remarks.

But whatever is said about James or to James, the controversial, controversies, good and bad, does not always play against the star football player. In the neighborhood they say it is better that they speak, even if they speak poorly.

Fernán Martínez is a renowned artist manager. He was working with James at the time. He knows him, and with that knowledge he means: “There are no warriors without scars. When a person becomes a legend, they observe him under a microscope. Everything said about James, positive or negative, increases his legend, arouses interest, curiosity and has no bearing on the court. James is simply the biggest media figure in Colombia ”.

Ex-footballer Jorge Valdano also said it in 2016 when he said about James: “He’s young and handsome, which doesn’t lead to winning matches, but it does lead to being attractive to the media, generating noise in the networking, selling T-shirts “.

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‘Deaf ears’

Being at the center of public opinion is part of a star’s work. Whoever shines must learn to deal with that dangerous thousand-headed monster. It has happened to many athletes in the world and in Colombia, for example the cyclist Nairo Quintana, who was attacked when the victory was hidden from him, and other footballers who, like Falcao García himself, because of their injuries or their bad sports moments. Even MessI, the best football player of the moment, has lived through this terrible tragedy. It is as if the idol, after being at the top, has no room for stumbling or failing.

That if James loses everything that’s said about him, it’s impossible to know, but as an elite athlete, there are approaches. Felipe Camacho He is a sports psychologist who has worked with professional clubs and elite athletes. Remember, since people will always speak up, you need to be prepared.

“Whatever we do, people will always talk, whatever it is; Obviously when he’s an athlete like James, he’s more exposed to criticism, it’s more visible, as a target for everyone to point out their criticisms, ”he says, proposing that there are four ways the athlete faces when confronted. with comments. “Fighting, what I call hooking; feeling sad or believing what people say; begging and exhausting yourself to want to convince, and being clear that people will speak, and the damage is not in the comments, but in the magnitude I give them. Athletes are trained to protect themselves from destructive criticism. If it’s constructive, you can listen, but somehow you have to be deaf to the comments because people will always talk and no one is a golden coin to everyone, ”he says.

James must face his own role as a star, the shadows that overshadow his sporting brilliance and the weight he carries on his back: that of his James Rodriguez, the one who lives the tragedy of the idol.

PABLO ROMERO
Editor of EL TIEMPO
On Twitter: @ PabloRomeroET