James Rodríguez Shines in First Start for Nacional With a Goal and an Assist

Ten minutes. That's all it took James Rodríguez to make his mark in his first start for Atlético Nacional. And before the clock hit the half hour mark, he'd already made two.

The Atanasio Girardot stadium witnessed a debut that Nacional's fans had been waiting for. James, finally in the starting lineup, turned on the style against Junior in matchday 3 of the 2026-II BetPlay League, and Nacional responded with a 3-1 rout that felt like a celebration.

The first goal came in the 10th minute, off a dead ball. James swung in a corner kick with that trademark left foot, Néider Parra won the header and knocked it down inside the box, and Sarmiento was there to tap it in and open the scoring. Just eight minutes later, the number 10 struck again, this time with a pass that split the rival defense for Andrés Román to finish with ease and make it 2-0 in the 18th minute.

With the assist already in his pocket, James held nothing back. He looked free and loose, dropping into midfield to get on the ball, slipping between the lines and linking up with his teammates as if he'd been starting all season. He even tried his luck with a free kick that came in with such power that goalkeeper Martínez needed two attempts to parry it and avoid conceding again.

A Heated Exchange With Teófilo

The match also had its share of tension. After a foul was called in the home side's favor, James and Teófilo Gutiérrez got tangled up in a heated argument, the kind that raises the temperature without boiling over, but it made clear that neither man was willing to back down in the war of words.

The veteran midfielder played 74 minutes before coming off to applause, capping one of his best performances in recent memory. Between the set piece goal finished by Sarmiento, the assist for Román and the spark he brought to the rest of the team, James was widely recognized as one of the standout players of the match.

Nacional closed out the night with the 3-1 win and, perhaps more encouragingly, the image of a James who looked fully switched on, central to the action and hungry for more minutes as a starter at the Atanasio Girardot.