He is a young, supremely talented Colombian No10, blessed with a wonderful left foot and already talked about in the same breath as some of the greatest footballers in the world. This is not, however, another James Rodríguez eulogy. Instead, meet Juan Fernando Quintero, the 21-year-old Porto midfielder, who is a chip off the Rodríguez block.
We have been treated to only fleeting glimpses of Quintero at this World Cup but the similarities between the second-youngest player in José Pékerman’s squad and Rodríguez are impossible to ignore. A gifted playmaker with an eye for a defence-splitting pass, Quintero has a penchant for backheels and nutmegs – there were less than two minutes on the clock when a Japan defender fell victim to the latter trick on his only start in these finals – as well as an ability to execute exquisite free-kicks. He is a star in the making.
Porto signed Quintero from the Italian club Pescara last year for €5m and inserted a €40 release clause in his contract. As with their recruitment of Rodríguez before, the Portuguese club know when they are on to a good thing with a young player. As do Colombians for that matter. “What are they waiting for?” Carlos Valderrama, the legendary former Colombia international, said last summer, joining the clamour for Quintero to feature regularly in the senior set-up. “Until he is 30 to call him? This player is ready! The qualifiers are going to prepare him for the World Cup.”
Not that Pékerman needs much advice when it comes to identifying gifted young players. The Colombia manager led Argentina to World Youth Cup success in 1995, 1997 and 2001. He rates Quintero highly, and gave him his first senior cap in October 2012, but Pékerman wants to dip the youngster in and out rather than ask too much too soon. There is also the small matter of Rodríguez being ahead of him.
Against Ivory Coast in Brasília, in the second group fixture, Pékerman turned to Quintero early in the second half when the match was goalless. Rodríguez, who had been shifted out to the left, headed Colombia in front in the 64th minute and shortly afterwards Quintero was celebrating his first goal for his country, after coolly dispatching a low shot into the corner of the net. “I always knew about the potential of Juan, we’ve always trusted his ability,” Pékerman said.
Some have been mesmerised by what they have seen from Quintero. At the Under-20 World Cup in Turkey last year, the diminutive midfielder was outstanding. He scored three times and his wonder strike against El Salvador was nominated as goal of the tournament. “It’s difficult to judge a player at this age and know if he’ll have a great career, but sometimes it’s just blindingly obvious when you get to see a future star,” Paul Okon said after Quintero ran the show against his Australia side.
Others went further and made a comparison that Quintero prefers to ignore. “Juan Quintero was exceptional,” said Kubilay Turkyilmaz, the former Switzerland and Galatasaray striker, who was working for Fifa in an ambassadorial role at the tournament. “He could go on to become a player on a par with [Lionel] Messi. The composure he displayed was unbelievable for such a young player. Without a doubt he will go on to become one of the stars of the game.”
Born in the tough neighbourhood of El Socorro in Medellín, Quintero started his football career on a familiar path, by catching the eye at the Pony Fútbol championship where Radamel Falcao, Rodríguez and so many other Colombia players first came to prominence. Quintero was nine, playing three years above his age, and became the youngest player to score a hat-trick in the tournament.
Envigado, the top-flight Colombian club where Rodríguez made his professional debut, snapped Quintero up and, with confidence to match his ability, the child who grew up idolising Rivaldo and Zinedine Zidane quickly moved through the ranks. “Juan had such personality when he was 14 that he went to the dressing rooms asking for kit to train with the professional players,” Elkin Acevedo Fernando Moncada, one of Quintero’s former coaches, told El Colombiano on the eve of the World Cup.
Although Quintero broke through at Envigado as a 16-year-old, there were still those who harboured doubts about him because of his height – Quintero is 1.68 metres (5ft 6in), which makes him 1cm smaller than Messi. He initially failed to make the final cut for the Colombia under-17 squad for that very reason but that was a rare setback in a career that has gone from strength to strength.
In 2012 he swapped Envigado for Atlético Nacional, where he was coached by Santiago Escobar, the brother of Andrés, the former Colombia captain who was murdered 20 years ago. Quintero’s stock was rising fast and in a matter of months he was on the move again, when Pescara paid £1.2m to take him to Italy.
Then came the moment when everyone started to take notice. At the South American Under-20 Championship in January last year, Quintero inspired Colombia to victory, scoring five times, including an outrageous free-kick against Argentina. When he lit up the Under-20 World Cup that summer Quintero was being linked with all the big clubs in Europe, but Porto moved quickest.
Quintero sought advice from Rodríguez, his “great friend”, who had just left the Portuguese club for Monaco in a £38.5m deal, before signing. Only 20 at the time, he moved in with Jackson Martínez, the Porto striker and Colombia team-mate, to adapt to his new life. That process did not take long. Only 30 seconds into his debut, Quintero, wearing the No10 shirt he inherited from Rodríguez, skipped over a challenge on the edge of the area and struck a splendid left-footed shot into the top corner. It was a glorious goal.
He is not the finished product, which was clear against Japan, when Quintero seemed to be trying too hard to impress at times, whether holding on to the ball too long or attempting the killer pass too often. Pékerman decided to change things at half-time and brought on Rodríguez in his place. What followed was a Rodríguez masterclass – two sublime assists and a beautiful goal – with the apprentice watching from the bench. Quintero’s time, however, will come.