Juan
Quintero announced himself to planet football at the FIFA U-20 World
Cup, where he had the honour of scoring the goal of the tournament. One
year on, the pint-sized 21-year-old midfielder has stepped up a level,
slotting home the winner in his side’s 2-1 defeat of Côte d’Ivoire on
his 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ debut. Now regarded as one of the
hottest properties in the game, the rising Colombia star spoke to
FIFA.com about the joys of playing on the biggest stage of them all.
“Obviously I’m delighted with my debut,” he said. “I was
desperate to get out there, and happily for me everything worked out. I
feel very proud about coming on and scoring, though the most important
thing was for us to get the win that takes us into the last 16.”
Discussing
the sweet left-footed strike that gave his side all three points
against the Elephants, Quintero said: “I’m grateful to God for scoring
such a good goal. I’m happy with what I’ve achieved, but it’s good to be
grounded. I wouldn’t have got that goal without James (Rodriguez)
winning the ball back and Teo (Gutierrez) putting me through. But
obviously I’m incredibly happy about it.”
We’re playing well, no doubt about it, but I really feel we can get even better.
Juan Quintero, Colombia midfielder
As well as clinching
Los Cafeteros’
place in the Round of 16, Quintero’s goal also ensured they won
back-to-back games at the World Cup for the very first time, all without
the injured Radamel Falcao. Little wonder, then, that Colombia’s army
of fans in Brazil are so happy.
“This team has a lot of
personality and we know how to dig deep when we have to,” he explained.
“We showed that against Côte d’Ivoire. They were tough opponents and
beating them has given the whole squad a big lift.”
The Estadio
Mane Garrincha in Brasilia was a sea of yellow last Thursday, and a
similar scene is expected at the Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba on Tuesday,
when the Colombians take on Japan in their third and final match in
Group C.
Full of confidence
So noticeable and vociferous has the
Cafetero support been in
Brazil that Quintero was moved to say: “It’s like we’re playing in
Barranquilla. The fans are 100 percent behind us and that makes us feel
great. We’re playing for our people and we want to make them as happy as
we can.”
With a place in the knockout rounds already secured,
Jose Pekerman’s side could be forgiven for looking ahead to their Round
of 16 tie and beyond. As Quintero pointed out, however, they are
resisting the urge to get ahead of themselves:
“We don’t want to
think about all that. We’ve won our two games and we’re through, but we
still have one match to go, a game that will decide if we finish first
or second. That’s all we’re interested in at the moment.”
Looking
ahead to the rest of the tournament, the gifted midfielder said: “We’re
playing well, no doubt about it, but I really feel we can get even
better. We want to play a more solid game and we’re going to take things
one step at a time. That’s the way it has to be. We’re going to start
thinking about our opponents in the last 16 when we find out who they
are, and then we’ll do all we can to make the quarter-finals. We won’t
be lacking in confidence.”
Abrasives Man thinks Brazil may becomes
the champion of world for 2014 FIFA.