Bogota: James Rodriguez has cast doubt over his international future after Colombia’s failure to qualify for this year’s FIFA World Cup.
The 30-year-old said he felt “deep pain” after Colombia finished the South American qualifying tournament one point shy of a playoff berth.
“I don’t know what’s ahead. I don’t know if I’ll be here or not,” the Al-Rayyan midfielder said on social media.
“What I do know is that it breaks my soul to lose. It makes me uncomfortable not having qualified and this cannot happen again. I’m sad, not only for me but also my teammates, who deserve to shine like I know they can,” he said.
The comments came less than a day after Colombia ended their qualifying campaign with a 1-0 away victory over Venezuela.
The result wasn’t enough to secure the Cafeteros a place at their third consecutive World Cup as Peru held onto fifth place – the South American group’s only playoff spot – by virtue of a 2-0 home win over Paraguay, reports Xinhua.
“Colombia should go to all of the World Cups,” Rodriguez said.
“We need to plan, join forces and work hard at both an administrative and sporting level to show the world the potential and talent our country has,” he added.
–IANS