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KAZAN, Russia -- There is a song Colombia fans in Russia belt out regularly. It speaks of the country's biggest star, James Rodriguez, and his two goals to defeat Uruguay 2-0 in the Maracana in the round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup. It's a reminder both of Colombia's impressive run in Brazil, with Los Cafeteros almost knocking out the hosts in the quarterfinal, and Rodriguez's importance to the Colombian national team. Rodriguez's two goals to down Los Charruas are already firmly etched into Colombian footballing folklore, but now Colombia needs Rodriguez to stand tall and produce some magic once again on Sunday in Kazan against Poland. This time around, the No. 10 comes into the clash against Poland off the back of a left calf injury and some indifferent form, but with Colombia falling 2-1 to Japan in its opening Group H game, he's in line to start, following his 30 minutes against the Asian side last Tuesday. Things may not have gone as spectacularly for Rodriguez as he would have liked since that World Cup, but he's still Colombia's best player, its creative force and one of its main goal-scoring threats. The Bayern Munich player's six goals in the 13 qualifying games he started -- a difficult feat in CONMEBOL qualifying, especially with four of them coming away from home -- highlight how vital he is. At club level, a move to Real Madrid after winning the Golden Boot at the 2014 World Cup seemed to herald the coming of a genuine superstar, perhaps even the leader of the group of players in the category behind the untouchables, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. But despite not making the desired impact in Madrid, the now-Bayern playmaker remains the superstar of this Colombia side, the subject of tabloid fodder and on whose shoulders the weight of the national team's success is lodged. Without Rodriguez for an hour, Colombia struggled against Japan and was obviously not helped by Carlos Sanchez receiving an early red card, for which he received death threats afterwards. The pressure is now on, not just for Rodriguez, but in the knowledge that Jose Nestor Pekerman's six-and-a-half-year stint -- only three other coaches at the World Cup have been in place longer -- in charge would have a huge stain should Colombia lose against a Poland side ranked eighth by FIFA and also needing a result. This is a must-win for both sides. Poland lost its opening match 2-1 to Senegal and will be hoping for much more from Rodriguez's Bayern teammate Robert Lewandowski. The 29-year-old striker has averaged almost a goal a game for Bayern in the past three seasons, and 57 percent of Poland's goals in World Cup qualifying came from the Warsaw native. But against Senegal, Lewandowski was quiet, managing just one shot on target throughout the 90 minutes. Some credit for that must go to Senegal, but Lewandowski will want to react in the knowledge that, unlike 26-year-old Rodriguez, this is his final World Cup in his absolute prime. Colombia faces Senegal on June 28 in the final round of matches in Group H, while Poland plays Japan. A draw in Kazan on Sunday would leave both still in the hunt for a round-of-16 spot, but really only a win would do it for two teams that were favorites to finish in first and second of the group.
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