James Rodriguez has small tear in calf

James Rodriguez might just have been more injured than originally thought. Prior to Colombia’s loss via penalties to England where the Bayern Munich man could only watch, it was widely thought that James would be able to take the field for his home country as they fought for their collective World Cup lives.

A balky right calf, however, ultimately kept James sidelined despite the optimism from the press heading into the match per Marca Claro. What was thought to be a strain with swelling, however, was actually revealed to be a minor tear that should take a minimum of two to three weeks of recovery time.

Team doctor of Colombia, Carlos Ulloa, revealed that the discomfort that presents the player James Rodriguez requires a recovery of between two and three weeks, according to local media reported today. Ulloa said that the results he did to the Colombian in Germany coincide with the diagnoses made by the medical team of the national team. “The resonance that was taken showed the same edema with one, as they describe it, a small fibrillar rupture that is the same diagnosis that we had already made and for which it was decided that the player did not participate before England,” Ulloa said.

Like the rest of the veterans who competed in the World Cup, Bayern coach Niko Kovač will not have James join the squad until after the International Champions Cup tour. Interestingly, the Colombian medical staff knew that James was already bothered by the calf upon arrival to Colombia team camp, but James practiced and subsequently played while being less than 100% fit leading up to Colombia’s opening match against Japan.

“There is now a recovery work of two or three weeks to see how it evolves,” he added. The time of recovery can thus be extended to the preseason tour of Bayern in the United States, in which the Bavarian side will face Juventus of Turin on July 25 and against Manchester City on the 28th. At the moment, James is on vacation in the Colombian city of Medellín. Ulloa stressed that while they knew that James arrived in Russia 2018 with some discomfort, the coaching staff was hopeful that the player recovered to be present in the commitments.

Even with the injury, Colombia hoped James may experience a rapid recovery. Unfortunately for both parties, there was no such luck.

“The decision was made (not to play against England) because the player was still in pain. and four days after the game against Senegal, the pain did not diminish at all,” Ulloa said. “Then the technical staff was informed, because everyone was hopeful that he would play, but nobody was going to risk the integrity of the player and that’s why he was not going to be allowed to be part of the game,” he said.