James David Rodríguez Rubio, famous by just his first name James, is often regarded as one of the best footballers of his generation. He is praised for his pace, technique and his style of play led to comparisons with more illustrious Colombian Carlos Valderrama. Here are some facts about the Colombian professional footballer.
1. James is married to Daniela Ospina, a volleyball player in 2011 at the age of 19 years and they have a daughter named Salome. It is believed thecouples are in process of divorcing.
2. After the 2014 World Cup, taking advantage of his popularity and increased exposure, Adidas issued him his own customized gold boots to celebrate his achievement and increase brand value.
3. He is one of the top ten players with highest endorsement earning with $4.8 million. He has sponsorship deal with Colombian beverage ‘Pony Malta,’ Nestle drink, ‘Milo’ and shampoo brand ‘Clear’ apart from Adidas.
4. He has started his own energy drink, called ’10 Gold’ in support of his charity foundation that he started for underprivileged kids in his native country.
5. As a child, James suffered from communication disorder due to heavy stammering and a speech therapist was hired to help him get over his problem. Shyness and speech impediment issue still persists till this day and often struggles in interviews.
6. In January 2004, at the age of 13, in the Pony Futbol tournament in Medellin he scored a hat-trick on the way to finals where he scored direct from a corner
7. In 2008 he moved over to Atletico Banfiled Club, Argentine and made his first team debut on February 07, 2009. He is the youngest foreign player at 17 years ever to score in the Argentine Primera Division, when scored from a long ranger on February 27 in a 3-1 win over Rosario Central.
8. He made his debut at the Copa Libertadores and scored his first goal in 2-1 victory over Monarcas Morelia and went on to tally five goals in seven matches before Banfield were eliminated in the Round of 16. He was ignominiously red carded for two fouls in the second leg.
9. Though Italian club Udinese showed interest in December 2009, James was signed-up by FC Porto on July 06, 2010, for €5.1 million, with 30% economic rights retained by other parties.
10. On July 11, 2017, it was officially announced of his move to FC Bayern Munich on a two-year long deal. He made his debut in the Budesliga when he scored the opened goal in the 3-0 win over FC Schalke 04, on September 19, 2017.
11. When he signed a five years transfer with AS Monaco, worth € 45 million on May 25, 2013, he became as one of the highest paid footballer in world history then. It was also the second most expensive transfer in Portuguese football.
12. He progressed to national under-20 squad in 2011 and was part of three youth tournaments, the Tournament, South American U-20 Championship and was the captain the Under-20 World Cup team. Colombia won the Toulon Tournament defeating France in the final.
13. He made his senior team transition during the 2014 World Cup qualification match against Bolivia on October 11, 2011 and scored his first international goal on June 03, 2012, in a 1-0 win against Peru.
14. At the 2014 World Cup, he was voted three times as ‘Man of the Match’ in four matches before bowing of the tournament in the quarterfinal against Brazil. His volleyed opening goal in a 2-0 win against Uruguay was voted as the best goal in the tournament by four million voters.
15. He was awarded the Golden Boot as the top goals scorer despite being eliminated in quarterfinals and the FIFA Puskas Award for the best goal of the year. He was also was short-listed for the FIFA’s Golden Ball.