James Rodriguez: “It was always my dream to play for Real Madrid”
· Yahoo Sports
Former Real Madrid player James Rodriguez talked about his love for Real Madrid in his recent Netflix documentary. He talked about why he went to the club, how the move came about and a number of different things. Speaking about the interest, he said: “I remember when Jorge Mendes told me: ‘Real Madrid want you.’ It was always my dream to play for Real Madrid. I had offers from other teams. But I told myself: ‘The Real Madrid train would only come once and I am getting on that train.’”
James on his relationship with Rafa Benitez
“We were just clashing from the start. I didn’t like the way he thought and he didn’t seem to like the way I thought. There was a game I was playing well, he took me off 60th minute and I made a few gestures and the stadium turned against him. He thought I made them turn against him.”
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James on his relationship with Zinedine Zidane
“It was still a beautiful thing to play under him. I trained well, when I played, I scored and got assists but when it was the big games: I wasn’t a starter. I got frustrated and didn’t know what more I could do. He always had his core 12/13 players, he chose them. But I don’t have a personal problem with him. I just wanted to play, but I respect his decision because he backed it up: he won titles.”
James on Carlo Ancelotti
“Carlo was like a father to me and when someone takes a chance on me… I give them my all.”
James on going to Bayern Munich
“Nobody knows this… but after Real Madrid: I was going to go to Manchester United and Jorge (Mendes) tells me: ‘Do you want to go to Bayern?’. And I say: ‘Where am I going to play? Ribéry, Robben…’. He tells me: ‘Carlo asked for you’. Carlo calls me and I tell him: ‘I think I’m going to Manchester’. And he responds: ‘Manchester? United is dead. You have to come here with me’.”
James on leaving Real Madrid
“I got home… sad, I went to cry alone, so my daughter didn’t see me. But she found me and asked why I was crying. I told her we have to leave, I need to change clubs. My heart was broken.”