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8 mai 2018
The Toulon Tournament’s most memorable moments : James Rodriguez fired Colombia to the title (13/16)
Ahead of the 46th edition of the Toulon Tournament, which will be held from 26th May to 9th June, we’ve delved into the archives to relive some of the most memorable moments in the tournament history. Every Tuesday and Friday, we look back at the most thrilling facts provided by the competition. Today, throwback to 2011, when James Rodriguez helped his country to clinch the title.
He is ranked 31st on our “Toulon Tournament top 100 players of all-time”. James Rodriguez has already written his name into the history books of the competition.
In 2011, he is part of the Colombia squad that played the Maurice Revello Tournament. Alongside the gifted attacking midfielder, we find some future internationals like Santiago Arias, Edwin Cardona, Luis Muriel and Duvan Zapata. All of them are aiming to lead Colombia to their third Toulon Tournament title, after the winning campaigns in 1999 and 2000.
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James Rodriguez, captain of Colombia
Drawn with Portugal, Italy and Ivory Coast in the group stage, the Colombians made a slow start as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Portugal in their first game. They can thank their captain James Rodriguez who netted the equalizer.
However, Colombia produced a strong display few days later against Ivory Coast. Goals from James, Muriel and a brace from Cardona allowed them to secure a 4-1 win over the Ivorians. Enough to take the lead of the group A as Portugal and Italy shared the spoils (1-1) at the same time. In the Matchday 3, the South Americans earned against Italy (1-1) the point needed to finish atop of the group.
In the semi-finals, Colombia faced a well-known opponent : Mexico. At the Stade Mayol (Toulon), James and his teammates faced a tough challenge but eventually won the game (2-1) thanks to Valencia and Cardona.
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The scoresheet of the final between France and Colombia
10th June 2011, Colombia faced the country host France. Led by some future internationals like Kalidou Koulibaly and Florentin Pogba, Les Bleuets took the lead thanks to Steeven Joseph-Monrose. Eventually, Duvan Zapata saved the Colombians as he netted the equalizer with two minutes remaining ! The two sides went on penalties and the Colombians finally won the penalty shootout 3-1.
Fantastic throughout the competition, James Rodriguez is named best player of the Toulon Tournament 2011. The rest is history for the Colombia’s captain...
James Rodriguez and his teammates with the Maurice Revello Tournament trophy
Mathieu Lauricella
READ ALSO :
The Toulon Tournament’s most memorable moments : 1982, the emergence of the Koeman brothers (2/16)
The Toulon Tournament’s most memorable moments : 1991, the Alan Shearer's legendary display (6/16)
